Prodigal Son
by Obi Shinobi
Summary: Naruto's life in the yakuza crime world comes to an abrupt end when his boss is assassinated. Will Naruto find a new path to walk, or fall by the wayside? DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue

**I do not own Naruto.**

**This story is not canon, but will have different parts of canon Naruto storyline stuck in it here and there. **

**More details about the story on my profile; feel free to check it out.**

**Please review with your thoughts. :)**

* * *

**Prodigal Son**

Prologue

The forest was frightening. The tall trees cloaked in dark foliage seemed to stare down uncaring at the small, blonde boy that looked up at them.

A bright flash of lightning snaked across the sky, illuminating the area for a second; the boy looked around frantically, hoping he hadn't been seen. He pulled himself further into the giant roots of the tree where he was hiding. _'Oh god, please don't let them find me'_

Thunder rumbled as the bright flash receded, and the heavens opened up as rain began to soak the forest. The boy could feel his dirty, orange shirt become soaked, but he could care less. He was being pursued.

"Naruto!" a voice bellowed through the rain.

Naruto's eyes shot open in horror, and he frantically began climbing out of the roots. He had to run - he had to get away.

"NARUTO!!" the voice called out again, this time sounding closer. Naruto knew the ninja following him wouldn't let him leave. They would think him a demon and return him to the Hokage for punishment.

Scrambling clumsily, Naruto released himself from his hiding place and took off in a dead run. He didn't know exactly where he was going, but anywhere seemed fine but Konoha.

He ran through the night, wringing the water out of his shirt for drinking water. Bushes and roots would trip him occasionally, but he paid the cuts and sprains no mind; he forced his body to obey and keep running.

The rest was history.

He had run as fast as he ever had that night, and eventually found himself in the city of Yosin, a trade hub situated on the axis of three countries: _Ame_, _Kusa_, and _Konoha_. The town had started as a simple trade post, but had since grown to a good size, given its key location. Naruto had lost himself inside the city's back alleys and dark places, scraping a living as a thief and spy. He was good at it.

The one good thing _Konoha_ had done for him was give him the basics of chakra manipulation, and using his wall climbing and stealth abilities, Naruto had made a name for himself as a capable thief.

That's when Boss Nakamori found him. The aging gang boss saw potential in the blonde and had taken him in, clothing and providing for the scrawny boy. The blonde had poured out his soul to the old man in return for his kindness, and on that day, Naruto's connection to _Konoha_ was severed.

Tuechi Nakamori, the "boss" of Yosin, had shown Naruto kindness for the first time in his short life, and thus gained the blonde's undying loyalty. At the tender age of eleven, Naruto became _yakuza_.

The _yakuza_ became his family and his life.

By the time he was thirteen, Naruto had killed sixteen men, all rivals of the Nakamori syndicate. Through his actions he gained the black kimono and katana of a _yakuza_ enforcer, and officially joined Nakamori's ranks. The other gang members had thrown him a party, embracing the young blonde as a brother and comrade. Naruto had cried tears of raw joy that night.

By his seventeenth birthday Naruto's kill count had risen to sixty-three men, including a rival _yakuza_ boss. At this latest achievement, Boss Nakamori bestowed the blonde with most auspicious gifts, including the revered black dragon tattoo of a _yakuza_ captain, and his own niece's hand in marriage.

At eighteen years of age, Naruto's pregnant fiancé and unborn child were murdered, resulting in a bloody gang-war that bathed the city in blood. Families were slaughtered, man, woman, and child. No one was spared the wrath of the blonde. Once the war was over and the Nakamori stood triumphant, Naruto had personally laid claim to at least eighty confirmed kills.

In another show of gratitude, Boss Nakamori promoted the blonde to become his _saiko komon_, or supreme advisor. Naruto's name became respected and feared throughout Yosin and neighboring cities.

In the present day, Naruto had become a troubled young man and heavy drinker, with a mysterious sex appeal that both scared women, and fascinated them.

He was no longer the scrawny boy from the streets; he had grown to a considerable height and build. His body was thin and covered in sinewy muscle, tattoos, and scars. His visage was ruggedly handsome, and his hair had grown out till it almost hung to his shoulders; a spiky, golden mane that gave him the look of a young lion. He was the_ alpha_-male, and everyone knew it.

The blonde had wrapped the _yakuza_ life around himself completely. In his early years he had pushed himself to the limits to please his boss; now he had adopted a lazy attitude towards life, usually ordering lower-ranked _yakuza _to do things for him. Very few if any argued with him, and when they did, Naruto would punish them. No one argued with the blonde twice.

He had passed the point in a _yakuza_'s life where every job was takenseriously in hope to charm one's boss and secure a better place among the gang. Naruto was _at_ the top. The food-chain was his ladder, and he played precariously at the top.

So it was, that most everyone was surprised when he opted to go on a simple collection mission to the house of one, Mr. Iriki Momochi..

* * *


	2. Chapter 1

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 1_

Naruto sighed and tossed his cigarette butt out into the muddy street, casting a glance over to where his partner was "negotiating" with another unlucky store clerk.

"You gotta pay your debt, you piece of shit!" his partner bellowed, smashing the clerk's face into the wet earth outside his tailoring shop.

Naruto watched the clerk splutter and cough out mud, as his partner pulled the balding man back up onto his knees. It had been going on like this for a good half hour, with no results.

"I-I don't have your money! My family h-has to eat! Mmph!" the clerk cried, before having his face shoved into the dirt a second time.

"Hurry up, Yobu. I'm tired," Naruto muttered in a bored tone, reaching inside his kimono for another cigarette. He lit the cigarette and squinted out into the street, watching the villagers scamper through the rain on their way home. Naruto smirked when a few people sent hooded glances towards him and his partner, before turning abruptly and hurrying off. No one wanted to play hero; Naruto was almost disappointed.

It was a common thing after all – two black-clad men making unexpected house calls on different unlucky gamblers throughout the city. It was how things went with the Nakamori gambling dens – some unimportant clerk or peasant would stumble into the basement flashing money around, looking for some excitement for their dull lives. They would find excitement, just not in the fashion they had imagined. Once the money had been lost, the unlucky person would be taken to see Boss Nakamori in order to make a "deal". The deal would usually end with said person promising payment every month, or in some other order, and then would be allowed to leave. It was perfectly okay to leave the establishment, pay your debts at a later date, and forget it ever happened. However, if the gambler didn't have the money promised, Boss Nakamori sent a few of his_ yakuza_ thugs to pay a house call. Much like the one Naruto was on at the moment. The clerk currently having his teeth bashed in, by the brutish Yobu, had made a deal he couldn't keep; Naruto was sent to collect.

"P-please! I don't have the money! G-give me more time!" the man cried from the mud as he clutched at Naruto's pant legs, assuming that Naruto would have more pity than his partner. Naruto sighed and sent an annoyed glance at his partner, before slapping the clerk's hands away and bending down to the man's level.

The blonde put a hand beneath the frightened man's chin and lifted it so the clerk could look at Naruto's face. "Mr. Iriki.." Naruto whispered past the cigarette in his mouth, "I can't help you. You made a deal with the boss, and didn't hold your end. Now you got me out here in the rain listening to your pleas for more time?"

The frightened man sobbed pathetically and Naruto removed his hand, letting the man's face drop into the mud as he cried. Naruto couldn't remember the times he had made housecalls such as this, but he reminded himself not to go on the next one. One of the new punks could come and beat on merchants in the cold.

"How many daughters do you have, Mr. Iriki?" the blonde asked calmly, as he stood and brushed his pants off. The clerk jerked his head up out of the mud and his eyes widened considerably; he began shaking his head rapidly.

Naruto frowned and pointed at the clerk,"You understand that this is your fault, don't you? We didn't want to do this, Mr. Iriki..".

The clerk nodded his head slowly and his sobs reemerged with a vengeance, causing the man to shake and shiver on the ground.

Naruto sighed and tossed his cigarette out into the street, before turning to his silent partner, "Take him back inside and bring his youngest daughter to the compound.".

His accomplice nodded and pulled the protesting clerk to his feet, before shoving him back inside the shop. A few screams could be heard from the clerk's family inside, but Naruto gave it no mind. Yobu, was more ox than man; there was no way three girls and a busted up old man could put a scratch on him.

Stepping out from under the store's entrance canopy, Naruto felt the rain begin to dampen his hair. He sighed to himself, and slowly made his way down the street and into the heart of the city. He made relatively good time using the back-alleys and passages that he had come to know as a kid. It always helped to know the way around one's _hunting_ grounds.

As he rounded one of the alley corners he stopped and paused in front of a silver pool at his feet.

Naruto ran a hand through his spiky hair, and gazed at his reflection in the puddle of rainwater. His style was aloof, and his kimono had long since been customized and altered so that it was now a dark brown color, rather than most _yakuza's_ jet black. Instead of the normal sandals that yakuza wore, he wore tabi-boots that came up to his knee, covered over with leather shin guards. His forearms were also adorned with leather guards, and on one wrist he wore a simple bracelet of jade beads, given to him by his late fiancé. His sword was slung across his back in a customized sheath, depicting a mythical dragon battling a gigantic fox. He smirked at his reflection and scratched the stubble on his chin, before stepping through the puddle and continuing on his way.

Naruto neared the Nakamori compound about an hour after leaving the clerk's shop, and grinned at what greeted him.

Apparently, Yobu had arrived a few minutes before him and was having a difficult time walking up the stairs into the compound. Naruto figured the erratically, squirming body bag thrown over the man's shoulder might have something to do with it.

"Oi, that one doesn't seem to be dead yet, dumbass," the blonde called to his struggling partner.

The larger man halted his ascent and threw the large bag to the top of the stairs with a roar, "You carry her, you lazy ass." he growled, pointing at the squirming bundle.

Naruto grinned roguishly and also pointed at the offending body bag, which had begun to squirm even more ferociously, "A biter?"

Yobu shook his head and patted his crotch tenderly, "A kicker."

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle as the large man stomped up the stairs and into the compound, muttering darkly under his breath. Naruto sighed and unsheathed his sword, poking it into the bag just enough for the occupant to feel the sharp point.

"Ok sweetheart, listen up. I'm going to haul your ass for the rest of this little trip. If you try any of this jumpy shit on me, I will not hesitate to poke a few extra holes in you. Are we clear?"

The bag stopped squirming, and the top part nodded slowly in acknowledgement. Naruto sheathed his blade and hefted the bundle onto his shoulder, stumbling a little bit. The bag was a little heavier than he had expected, but after a few minutes he balanced out and advanced through the building's double doors.

'_What the hell do they feed kids these days?' _

Naruto hauled his burden through the main entrance and wound his way through the maze of rooms and corridors that comprised the sprawling mansion. Various _yakuza_ and house servants occupied the rooms, and would wave or grin as the blonde passed by. After a few minutes he had reached the courtyard, and had to jog through the garden to avoid getting soaked. On the other side of the compound, he slowed his pace and shook the rain out of his hair. He had to watch his appearance on the other side of the mansion, as it was this part that housed Boss Nakamori's immediate family and honored guests. The crime lord had purchased the huge mansion from a bankrupt samurai clan a few years back, and had christened it as his headquarters and home. The front part of the mansion that Naruto had just come from was where Nakamori's gang hung out and more importantly, where the majority of business took place. The back part, housed Boss Nakamori himself, and his office.

The blonde approached the office door and nodded towards the two burly guards keeping watch outside, "Boys? A hand if you wouldn't mind?"

One of the guards helped Naruto remove the body bag, and set it on the floor.

"What's in the bag?" one of the men asked, tapping it with his foot.

The blonde smirked, "Late payment."

Both guards raised their eyebrows in unison, making Naruto chuckle lightly. He was about to explain when shouting rang from inside the office, and his hand instinctively palmed the handle of the sword on his back. One of the guards shook his hand and jerked a thumb at the door, "Jojin is back."

Jojin was the elder Nakamori's oldest son and heir, and in Naruto's opinion, a complete and utter asshole. The pampered fool was given the world on a silver platter, but no matter how many times Boss Nakamori trusted the young man with something important it almost always ended badly. A far step from his father, Jojin was cruel, impractical and impulsive. One senior _yakuza_ had once called the boy a powder-keg just waiting to blow. The senior _yakuza_ was found later, strangled to death in a public restroom.

Naruto sighed and gripped one of the black bag's handles and began dragging the bundle into the room, while a guard held the door for him. The two occupants of the room went quiet and watched curiously as the blonde hauled the body bag into the middle of the room.

"What do I owe the pleasure, Naruto-kun?" Boss Nakamori asked from behind his desk.

"Yes. What is _that_?" Jojin asked, his voice laced with disdain.

Naruto eyed the pale, sickly looking, young man with something akin to disgust in his blue eyes. He couldn't stand the Nakamori heir, and he made it well-known for all to see.

"You may leave, Jojin. We will discuss this in detail at a later time," Boss Nakamori ordered, interrupting the staring contest.

Jojin scowled at his father from across the room and swept out of the office, not at all happy about being dismissed. The older Nakamori sighed and calmly turned his attention back to the bag waiting for an explanation. Naruto wondered just how a son and father could be so vastly different from one another.

Boss Nakamori was large and portly man, with a large white beard trailing down his belly. Every time he laughed, Naruto couldn't help but liken him to a wise old toad.

Naruto jerked a thumb at the door Jojin had left from, "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

The older man waved him off and snorted, "Bah. No, not at all. I am curious though, as to why you have dragged a body bag into my office, and deposited it so graciously upon my favorite rug."

Naruto snorted; he knew full well that his boss abhorred gaudiness in favor of practicality. The old man had told the blonde once that the only reason he surround himself in decadence was to keep up appearances with businessmen and diplomats.

Naruto smirked and tapped the bag with his foot, "This, sir, is the youngest daughter of one, Iriki Momichi."

The blonde watched as Boss Nakamori stroked his beard thoughtfully, and raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm assuming he didn't have the money to pay his debts then?"

Naruto shook his head and reached inside his kimono for his cigarettes, "I had Yobu deal with it."

The older man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "The sins of the fathers.."

Once his cigarette was lit, Naruto looked at the bag thoughtfully, "Indeed. What should I do with her? I don't like the idea of sending her to the brothel; she is too feisty."

The old man considered his protégé for a while, before shrugging childishly, "I dunno."

Naruto exhaled a cloud of smoke and frowned at his boss, "Bullshit. Where you want her? I am in no mood to be making "administrative" decisions."

"Tough. She is your responsibility."

The old man knew was he taking a chance leaving the girl with the young blonde, but he would have to risk it. Ever since the old man's niece had been murdered, Naruto hadn't wanted to have anything to do with any girls the organization came in contact with; Boss Nakamori planned to change that. He didn't like seeing his right-hand man so lost in life. Every man needed a woman by his side; Naruto especially.

Naruto scowled at the old man, "You can be an asshole sometimes."

Boss Nakamori nodded sagely and smiled, "You love it."

Without another word, the blonde picked up the body bag and trudged out of the room. He heard the old man laughing behind him, and couldn't stand the position he had been put in.

'_Fucking_ _fantastic_.'

* * *

Outside in the rain-soaked streets of Yosin, two men watched the yakuza compound from a small restaurant.

Their gaze didn't shift when the owner brought them two cups of tea. "Here you are gentlemen," the owner cackled, holding his hand out for payment.

One of the men produced two gold coins from his robes and dropped them into the old man's waiting palm. "We will be left alone. Keep the tea coming," the man ordered, his face concealed within a dark hood.

The owner's eyes widened at the amount of money and shook his head furiously, before retreating to the kitchen. The hooded man had just paid him what he could earn in about a month of good business.

"He is in there," the shorter of the two stated calmly. "We should take him tonight."

The other man, the one that had paid, shook his head and took a sip of the tea. "No. Soon, but not yet."

* * *

Naruto wasn't happy.

People moved aside as the angry blonde trudged back through the mansion, his burden squirming violently. Naruto growled at the bag and headed straight for the compound's small holding area. He had no intention of babysitting some girl, no intention whatsoever. Moving at a brisk pace, the blonde reached the holding area and swept past the bored guards. Using his own key he unlocked the first empty cell he came to and dropped the body bag roughly onto the cement floor.

The bag stopped squirming instantly, and Naruto snorted, "Too late, sugar. You are already here."

No sound came from the bag and it didn't move an inch. He poked the bag a few times and didn't get a response, "Okay, thats not right.."

Moving swiftly, Naruto slipped a thin blade from his shin guard and sliced through the black material, opening the black bag up fully. His gut seized up when he rolled the young woman out of the bag; she was bleeding badly out the back of her skull.

The blonde's memories flashed him a picture of his own fiancé, bloody and dying in his arms; it was enough to plunge him into action. Naruto pulled the woman out of the bag and ripped a chunk of fabric from her red dress in one smooth motion, applying it to the wound on the back of her head.

Cradling the bleeding girl's head, he called out to the guards outside, "Guards! Get me a bucket of cold water, and some towels!"

He heard some shuffling and a chair fall over, "W-what the hell is going on in there, sir?"

Naruto gnashed his teeth and cradled the young woman's unconscious body to his chest, "Just hurry! Fuck! Get a doctor too!"

The sound of running feet greeted his ears, and he prayed they would hurry. He couldn't watch another innocent girl die because of him; he wouldn't let it happen a second time. Pulling the girl back a little from his chest he took a better look at her. She wasn't as young as he thought, and he was aware that she could easily be the same age as him.

The girl wore a plain red dress, short black shorts, and an odd pair of blue sandals. Naruto didn't pay much attention to her clothing however, as his gaze was instantly drawn to her face. The blonde had to admit, the young woman was quite attractive, despite a split lip and some caked blood. The girl's lips were a soft, cherry-blossom pink, and her skin was pale and smooth like porcelain; he couldn't help but wonder what color her eyes were. He also noticed, guiltily, that she was well developed and curvy in all the right places. The oddest thing about the mysterious woman, however, was her hair; the blonde had never seen anyone in his entire life with such an odd hair color. Pink.

His thoughts were interrupted however as he heard multiple sets of feet rushing in his direction, "In here! Hurry!"

A few seconds later the guards returned with a bucket of cold water and an armful of towels, with one of the house servants trailing in their wake. Naruto paid them little mind as he took the items from them, quickly soaking the towels in the cold water, and then cleaning the wound. He was relieved to find the cut wasn't life threatening; head wounds bled like crazy, but the girl's was superficial. He was more worried about whether or not the impact with the floor had given the girl a concussion. Naruto hoped she was lucky and had just been knocked out.

Once he was finished attending the wound; Naruto sat the girl's head in his lap and gently wrapped a soaked towel around her head, staunching the blood from her wound and soaking his kimono in the process. Satisfied with his work, Naruto slowly removed the top of his kimono, being careful not to bump the girl's head. After tossing the wet and bloody garment to the guards outside the cell, the blonde realized he would be spending the night in the cold cell, wearing only his pants and fishnet shirt, _'Awesome. This day couldn't be going any better,' _he thought to himself.

Naruto sighed and ran a bloody hand through his hair. "So? Where is the fucking doctor?"

The guards started a little at being addressed, "Umm the doctor isn't available sir, not until tomorrow."

The blonde scowled at the news and shook his head, "He will pay for this later. Right now I want you two to bring me as many blankets as you can. Also, bring me some hot tea and some rice."

Both guards took off immediately, leaving Naruto with the unconscious girl and house servant.

The servant didn't hesitate long before entering the cell and crouching beside him, "Naruto-sama, would you like me to relieve you? I can watch the girl for you."

Naruto shook his head, "No, I'll be staying in here tonight."

The servant smiled weakly, seeming uncertain about having him sleep in the cell. "Are you sure? You don't need anything?" she asked.

Naruto shook his head grumpily and sighed, "No, I'm fine. See if you can find Yobu-san and send him here. Oh! Get my kimono shirt from those two imbeciles, and make sure it gets cleaned and dried properly."

The servant nodded her head before leaving, and Naruto waited till her footsteps had receded, before returning his attention to the young woman in his arms. The girl hadn't moved an inch and Naruto was beginning to curse himself for being so rough with her. The head injury wasn't the only injury though, and as the blonde looked her over, he could make out various bruises on her slender arms and neck, '_She must've put up quite a fight.'_

The blonde shivered a little and instinctively reached for his cigarettes, only to realize they had been in his kimono top. Naruto sighed loudly and frowned at the unconscious girl; he knew it wasn't her fault, but he was angry just the same. The nicotine helped him cope with his stress, and he could've used a little stress-relief at the moment.

The guards came back a few minutes later with the blankets and food, and after completing their tasks, retired for the night. Naruto wrapped two of the soft woolen blankets around the sleeping girl, and draped the last one over himself, hoping to ward off the cold creeping into his sore limbs. Grateful for the slight increase in warmth, Naruto poured himself some tea and ate a portion of the rice, saving some just in case the girl woke up.

To anyone that knew him; Naruto would've looked quite out of place cradling an injured woman in his arms. Not that Naruto was a heartless beast that craved blood and destruction; he was simply a product of his upbringing. One doesn't survive the back-alleys and mean streets of Yosin by being soft-hearted and kind.

The blonde had risen to his position in life by being tough and becoming the alpha-predator among a city of predators. He killed because it kept the other predators in check. He killed because Boss Nakamori demanded it. He killed..because he was good at it.

No matter how much he killed though; Naruto was still human.

A few hours later, footsteps approached and a large figure obscured the doorway, "You asked for me?"

Naruto took a grateful sip of the now cool tea and eyed the large man. "You call this the youngest daughter?" he asked.

Yobu blinked in confusion and looked between Naruto and the girl resting on his lap, "The kicker?"

Naruto nodded and took another small sip from his cup, "She took a nasty blow to the head, and now I'm playing babysitter. Ironic eh?"

The larger man chuckled quietly and shrugged at his blonde comrade, "She was pretty feisty, I had to knock her out to get her in that damn bag. Did she put up a fight when you let her out or something?"

"No, I dropped her on this damn cement and she went out like a light; she was bleeding pretty badly not too long ago," said Naruto, eyeing the makeshift bandage adorning the girl's head.

Yobu sighed and looked out towards the way he had come in. "Why keep her in here? I could help you move her to one of the empty rooms," he offered.

Naruto shook his head and drained the last of the tea in his cup, "Nah. If she had a concussion I don't want her to move too much, it could worsen her condition."

The larger man chuckled a little more loudly this time, "When did you become such a softy? I know she's a looker, but seriously, you think she is going to thank you when she wakes up and gets sent to the brothel?"

Naruto smirked at his partner and gently shifted the girl into a more comfortable position on his lap, "This one isn't going to the brothel. Boss said she's my responsibility, and I don't aim to send her to those vultures."

Yobu watched in silence as his blonde friend carefully brushed the girl's hair out of her eyes, reminding him of an adoring mother with her child. The protective manner Naruto showed towards the girl set him off a little; he had never seen the blonde killer act so warmly towards another human being, other than his late fiancé, anyways. Of course Yobu hadn't been part of the organization whenever Naruto had a fiancé, but he had heard stories about the man's peculiar attitude during their short relationship. The blonde had become a legend among the _yakuza_ as a talented, cold-hearted killer with a "devil may care" attitude and a chip on his shoulder. Only when he had been betrothed to Yuki Nakamori did the population see another side of the man, a warm, caring side that shocked them to the core. It drew his allies closer, and gave his enemies hope of victory, a false hope anyways; the gang-war was enough to show that. After Yuki's death, the old Naruto returned, and the _bad_ days returned with him.

After the war was finished, and the blood was washed from the streets; Naruto locked his heart away completely. Sure, he would draw the occasional beauty into bed with him, but that's all that it ever was, a night of sex and alcohol, followed by heartbreak for breakfast. A womanizer to the core, the blonde would entice the hopeful, young women with whispers of love and romance, but in the morning a cold, empty bed was all that greeted them. Yobu pitied not only the poor girls, but his friend as well; the blonde wasn't willing to be loved.

The large man was broken from his thoughts when the blonde coughed to break the silence, "Hey moron, come get my sword. I don't want to think what would happen if this one wakes up before me and decides I'm the enemy."

Yobu sighed and entered the cell, taking the blonde's sword and sheath from him, "Want me to lock up too?"

Naruto nodded slowly and tossed his own pair of keys to his partner, "Probably should. Just come get me in the morning."

The large man caught the small ring of keys and retreated from the cell, locking it behind him, "You kids be good, ya hear?"

Naruto's answered echoed from the cell as Yobu walked away, heading towards his room, "Fuck you."

Naruto listened to Yobu's footsteps die away, before letting out a sigh and leaning back against the stone walls. He listened intently as the storm continued outside; the distant rumble of thunder making the little cell vibrate a tiny bit. Wrapping the blanket a little tighter around his frame, he checked the girl one last time before drifting into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Dreams began to flutter and dart through Naruto's subconcious, like startled fish in a pond.

The images seemed blurry and out of focus, but gradually began to sharpen and hone themselves in his minds-eye.

Naruto's first meeting with Yuki Nakamori.

Their marriage in the spring in the compound courtyard. Yuki seemed to glow in the sun.

The night they had learned Yuki was bearing a child. All had been well till later that night..

_"Why are you behaving like this?!" Yuki bellowed at her husband._

_"Don't take it that way! You know how dangerous my life is! I have more enemies than your father!" Naruto replied, grasping his wife by her frail shoulders._

_"So I shouldn't have this baby because you're scared that people might harm you through us?!" The woman cried, tears flowing from her pretty eyes._

_Naruto shook his head and let his wife go, falling to his knees and looking at the floor, "No, Yuki. I'm not scared of other people harming you. I'm scared that I will harm you.."_

The image fluttered and wobbled before skipping to another image.

Naruto and Yuki lay in bed, wrapped in eachother's arms.

_"You're not the monster everyone paints you out to be, Naruto. I've seen a different side of you; a side you keep tucked away for me and my father. Their is love, good, care, affection, and..life inside you! I just wish we were in a place where you could let everyone else see it.." Yuki murmured into her husband's chest._

_"Maybe..maybe someday we could move away from here and I could change for you, Yuki. For you..and our child."_

At that, the image blurred and was washed away as Naruto fell deeper into sleep.

Little did anyone know, the day after those precious times in Naruto's memory; Yuki and Naruto's unborn son would be slain and Naruto's bloodlust and revenge would paint the city red with blood.

* * *

Naruto woke up much later with an uncomfortable tickle at his neck, and in his drowsy state he absent-mindedly made an effort to push the offending object away, earning himself a rather painful nick on his hand. Cursing grumpily, the blonde opened his eyes.

The pink-haired girl had apparently woken up before him, produced a knife from _somewhere_, and was currently holding it dangerously close to his windpipe.

Naruto blinked a few times to get the sleep out of his eyes, "Good morning."

The young woman scowled, "Where am I?"

After a few seconds Naruto shrugged, and waved a hand around the cell, "I really have no idea, but from appearances..I would have to say a prison cell?"

Not amused, the young woman dug the small knife into his neck and hissed in his face, "I'm not screwing around!"

"Well obviously," Naruto stated, ignoring the small trickle of blood coming from his neck.

"Do you want to get your throat slit, wise-guy?" The girl warned, scowling at him.

"Listen, we are both on _this_ side of the bars, so until we get on _that_ side of the bars, lets just try and not eat eachother. Ok, pussycat?"

The girl clearly didn't appreciate the humor, but lowered the knife from his throat, "What do they have you in for?"

Naruto smirked and wiped a small trickle of blood from the shallow scratch on his neck, "I'm a serial killer."

The girl grunted and rolled her eyes in response, sheathing the small blade in her sandal. Apparently the girl accepted that he had been locked up alongside her, and therefore, was no longer a threat.

Still grinning mischievously, Naruto decided to play along for a bit, "What are you in for?"

The girl raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you care?"

Naruto sighed and pointed at the towels adorning the girls head, "Well, I did save you from bleeding to death."

The girl inspected the back of her head, wincing when her hand brushed across the wound. "Ouch! Umm thanks, I suppose. Did you see-Agh!"

Naruto frowned as the girl grabbed her head with both hands and clenched her teeth in pain. Moving around had obviously aggravated the wound, and her body was doing its worst to get her to lay back down.

Naruto pushed himself off the ground and went to crouch near the girl, putting a gentle hand on her back, "Hey, you need to lie down. Moving around is going to aggravate your wound, and if that happens, it won't heal correctly."

The girl didn't answer, but reluctantly nodded her head and let Naruto assist her in laying back down on the blankets. Naruto took his own blanket and rolled it tightly, before slipping it under her head as a makeshift pillow.

"Thank you," she muttered as she pulled one of the blankets over herself.

Naruto chuckled lightly and ran a hand through his hair, "You can call me Naruto."

The girl looked up at him from the floor and smiled weakly, "Sakura."

Naruto grinned as well and stood up, turning towards the bars of the small cell, "Well Sakura, you go ahead and rest. I'll see if I can get these assholes to bring some food."

He waited for a reply, but never got one, as the girl had already fallen back asleep.

Looking over his shoulder, Naruto couldn't help but smile at the slowly rising and falling form of the girl in his charge. Approaching footsteps caught his attention, and he quickly turned back towards the bars, peering intently in the direction of the prison's entrance.

Yobu rounded the corner and smiled brightly upon seeing the blonde waiting for him, "There he is! Already sick of her, blondie?"

Naruto waved his hands frantically, bringing two fingers up to his lips, "Shhh!"

The larger man raised his eyebrows curiously, but quieted down and approached the cell stealthily, giving his friend an odd look, "What? She asleep or something?"

"No. She thinks I'm a prisoner. I woke up this morning with a knife to my throat, and I don't want to give her a reason to use it again."

Yobu almost laughed out loud at the antics of his blonde friend, "Haha! Why the hell do you care? C'mon man, let's get out of here. You can check on the chick later."

Naruto scowled and raised his fingers up to his lips again, "Shh! No, I'm staying in here with her. I'm going to try and get to know this one a little bit; I owe her at least that much."

The large man smiled broadly and waggled his eyebrows, "You are sweet on this little firecracker, aren't you? I gotta let the guys know about this..!"

Naruto growled, "Shut up, dumbass. You just keep the food and hot tea coming, alright? Let the boss know what is going on, but nobody else. Just the boss, okay?"

Yobu nodded happily, "Sure thing. It's good to see you take an interest in the opposite sex again."

This comment earned another growl from the blonde, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Yobu sighed comically and began walking away, "Those one-night stands weren't fooling anyone."

Naruto watched his partner leave, wondering just what the larger man was getting at. Take an interest in the opposite sex again? Since when did people start caring about his love life? And what did that have to do with wanting to hang around a beautiful young lady? The blonde frowned and ran a hand through his spiky locks, '_Bunch of idiots'_

Naruto spent the next two days talking to the pink-haired girl about a myriad of different topics. Naruto would tell her things about himself, admittedly leaving out different "dark spots" in his life, but giving the girl a feel for who he was. He told her of his life on the streets, his "adoption" into a powerful "family", his faults, his fears, and finally his fiancé and unborn child. The blonde didn't really know why he spilled his life story to the almost complete stranger, but something about the girl calmed him, and he liked the feeling of sharing his feelings with another person. In return, the girl, Sakura, told him of her home village, her hobbies, her likes and dislikes, and other mundane little things in her life. Naruto listened quietly, posing questions here and there and joking when the chance presented itself. The blonde could tell she was leaving out parts of her stories, like her village's name, and her profession, but he didn't mind. It was obvious that Sakura wasn't related to the Iriki family, and he had tried to remember to tell Yobu to go question the Iriki family about the girl that had been in their home, but for some reason he never got around to it.

The missing links in the two prisoners' stories heightened the mystery, and only encouraged the two young people to probe deeper into each other's lives. So it happened that the two came to be almost friends in their time together, sharing information and jokes, laughing and flirting, almost completely oblivious to their imprisonment. Each time Yobu brought food and sustenance to the two prisoners, he was greeted by Naruto's booming laughter, accompanied by the twinkling giggle of the pink-haired girl with him. After one such meal, Naruto noticed Sakura rubbing at her neck and shoulders in an irritated manner, and it piqued his curiosity.

Naruto set his empty rice bowl down and raised an eyebrow at the girl sitting across from him, "Something wrong?"

Sakura groaned and nodded, "Yea. The muscles in my neck and shoulders seize up whenever I move. I think the nerves have been damaged."

"Oh? You know something about nerves, huh? You a doctor?" he asked.

Sakura looked over at him and shrugged, "Something like that."

Naruto smirked at the girl and stood up, crossing the distance between them and crouching beside her. "Want some help?"

The girl eyed him suspiciously, and some color entered her cheeks, "How do you plan on doing that?"

Naruto smiled warmly and winked, "Lie down on your stomach, and I'll give you a massage."

Sakura groaned in disbelief, "You know how to give a proper_ therapeutic_ massage?"

Naruto nodded and pointed to the blankets on the floor, "I don't know about _therapeutic_, but I know how to give a massage. Now lay down before I change my mind."

The girl raised her eyebrows curiously, but obeyed and was soon lying face down on the blankets with her head in the makeshift pillow, "Don't get any ideas, Naruto."

Naruto straddled the girl's lower back and playfully pinched her rear, "Not in a million years.."

Sakura squealed and tried to reach back and slap him, but only ended up straining her neck, making her wince and put her head back down, "Bastard."

The blonde chuckled lightly, but didn't respond. His hands were shaking as he reached for the zipper on the back of Sakura's red top, and he cursed himself, '_Acting like a whipped pup. Calm dooowwnnn.'_

Steeling himself, he slowly tugged the zipper, biting his tongue as the zipper slid downward, revealing more and more of the girl's flawless, pale skin. He desperately wanted to put his lips to the girls exposed back, but had to fight back the urge when he felt her tense beneath him, '_So she is still tense huh? We'll have to fix that..'_

Sakura's muffled voice broke through his thoughts, "You can stop unzipping me now."

Naruto winced and stopped unzipping the dress, noticing just how far down he had gone, "My bad."

No more words were exchanged however, as Naruto gently laid his cool hands on the girl's warm skin, earning him an exasperated gasp from the young woman. Smiling slyly to himself, Naruto began to knead and roll the stiff muscles under the girl's porcelain skin. He started at the top of the spine, massaging the girl's neck and upper shoulders, methodically rubbing out the knots and hard spots in her sinewy muscle with expert precision. After a while, he moved a little lower, putting his palms over her shoulder blades and applying pressure, pushing the girl against the floor and releasing the strain on the muscles there. Sakura moaned into the pillow, and Naruto bit his lip as heat flooded into his cheeks. Once finished with the middle back, the blonde trailed his hands downwards along the girl's spine, slowly massaging both lines of tight muscle he found there. The entire process took nearly half an hour, and Naruto almost laughed out loud when the girl's breathing slowed, and came in steady, heavy breaths. It had only taken him half an hour or so, but Sakura had already fallen asleep.

Naruto carefully zipped the girl's dress up and got to his feet, draping the last blanket over his cellmate to keep her warm. Seating himself across from Sakura, the blonde lit one of the cigarettes Yobu had brought him, inhaling deeply, before releasing a lazy cloud into the darkening cell. In that moment, he had decided that the cell had become one of his new favorite spots. It wouldn't last forever though, and he saddened at the realization of it all. He couldn't live in the prison forever, and once released, the girl would probably try to stab him, not that he could blame her though. Here she was, being held in some faraway prison with a _yakuza_ killer, kept from her family, friends, and life. Naruto felt the shame of his actions rise into the gorge of his throat, making him want to vomit in shame. He tried to entertain the thought that the pink-haired beauty might forgive him and give romance a chance, but he quickly cast hope aside. What self-respecting woman would want a life with him? Sure, women were attracted to him, but the kind of attraction they held for him was like an explorer's love for caves. The mystery and danger that surrounded him is what attracted them, and once that was out, he was just a cave, a dark hole of death, sorrow, and danger.

He was shaken from his thoughts by an explosion from somewhere in the complex that shook mortar loose from his cell, peppering him with dust and grime. Putting out his cigarette, Naruto stood up and went to look through the bars of his cage, casting a wary glance back at the girl, still oblivious in her sleep.

Naruto took a cautious step backwards as Yobu came flying around the corner with Naruto's sword and sheath in hand, "Naruto! We're under attack! Naruto!"

* * *

So, what's everyone think about the first chapter?


	3. Chapter 2

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 2_

Naruto tried desperately to silence his friend, but the damage was done. Sakura was awake.

"You lied to me," came a small voice from the floor.

Naruto sighed and turned around slowly, "Listen. I can explain."

The girl was up in a flash, her blankets forgotten, "Fuck you! What is there to explain!? You're one of them! A damn _yakuza_ thug!"

Naruto nodded slowly and held up his hands to try and placate the fuming woman, "I know, I know. Please, hear me-!"

He never finished the sentence as the girl's fist smacked against his jaw, driving his head back against the bars with a dull clang.

Naruto sighed and wiped a little blood from his jaw where the skin had split open, "Yobu, go find the boss and watch over him; this attack could be an assassination attempt and I want someone I trust near him."

Sakura watched the larger man leave, before turning back to the blonde, "So you are in charge now too? You really are despicable, you know that?"

Naruto couldn't help but wink at the infuriated female, "That's not what you said last night.."

The girl moved to punch him again, but the blonde quickly caught her fist and used her own momentum to pull her into a bear hug, effectively pinning her arms to her sides.

Naruto sighed while the girl squirmed and wriggled, trying in vain to free herself from his vice-like hold, "Get your hands off me!"

"Not until you calm down!" the blonde replied, avoiding a vicious headbutt from the girl.

Sakura halted her attacks and glared up at him, hurt and betrayal burning in her eyes, "Why lie to me? What do you get out of sitting in your own jail cell for 3 days? Where's the incentive, _yakuza_?"

Naruto hung his head and sighed ashamedly, "You want the truth?"

The girl nodded her head and continued to glare up at him, "Are you capable of telling the truth?"

Naruto's eyes hardened and his patience snapped, "Fuck you. I could've left you to die on the floor! Did this big, bad _yakuza_ do that though? No! I saved your life and slept in this rat's hole all night watching over you! You want to know the rest of my story? Oh wait..I already told you it, all except for the part where I am _yakuza_! Because that changes who I am, doesn't it? Just because I'm not a doctor, or a samurai, or whatever; I am instantly evil because, I am.. How did you put it? A damn _yakuza_ thug.."

Sakura couldn't say anything, and only managed to turn her head and glare at the wall. Naruto knew there was no point in trying to convince her to forgive him; she was just as blind as everyone else.

Another explosion went off and Naruto cursed himself for wasting time, "Once this attack is over I'll come and release you, then we can both pretend this never happened. I'll go back to killing people and you can go do whatever the fuck you want."

Without another word, Naruto released the girl and strode out of the cell, locking it behind him and strapping his sword sheath across his back. As he made his way out of the room, he ran a finger across his blade testing its sharpness, '_Goodbye, dreams. Hellooo, reality.._'

* * *

Two figures made their way along the compound rooftops, stopping ever so often to stick paper seals to the wet roof tiles. Both were clad in matching black suits, and had masks covering their faces. One of the men made a hand signal to his partner, and without a whisper, the two split up and headed off to different parts of the compound.

Ninja had come to the Nakamori headquarters.

* * *

Naruto reached the main hall to the sound of chaos. Explosions were going off seemingly at random, showering the people inside with flaming timber and ash. He watched in horror as one of the main roof beams exploded and fell to the ground, crushing three people in the process. Various _yakuza_ and house servants ran around wildly, some carrying buckets of water, and others carrying the injured.

Naruto slapped himself into action, scooping one of the injured servants into his arms and bolting for the open-air gardens, "To the gardens! Get them outside!"

He watched as people began to catch on, following him towards the relative safety of the house gardens. On the way, he barked orders at the scattering _yakuza_ gangsters, ordering them to get on the roof and search for the attackers. Few paid attention, and he made a mental note to punish each and every one of the cowardly men. Refocusing his mind on getting everyone to safety, Naruto slung the unconscious girl onto his shoulder, and used his other hand to draw his sword. As the small mob reached the doors leading to the gardens, he didn't slow down, instead using his sword to slice through the doors, opening the way for the flood of people behind him.

Naruto sprinted into the garden and gently laid the girl down, snatching a passing man and ordering him to tend to her. He watched the man obey, and then turned his attention to the people flooding the grounds, carrying other wounded, "Half of you stay with the wounded, the other half needs to come with me and help evacuate the Nakamori family! Let's go!"

He watched the men and women as they scrambled to obey his orders, their previous fear forgotten, due to the relative safety of the gardens, '_Now you are willing to obey, huh? Cowards.'_

Within a few seconds, a group of people separated themselves from the rest and turned to him expectantly, "We are ready to serve, Naruto-sama."

Naruto nodded and headed off towards the other side of the compound, slashing through doors as he went. Apparently the ninja hadn't attacked the Nakamori family, as the walls were intact and the 

occupants surprised at his entrance. A part of his brain began ticking nervously, but he couldn't place just what was wrong with the picture.

He didn't have time to dwell on the thought however, because at that moment one of Boss Nakamori's daughters approached him and set a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Naruto-senpai? What's wrong? We heard some noise from the other side of the compound, is that why all these people are here?"

Naruto shook himself and grasped the young girl by the shoulders, "We need to get everyone out to the gardens. The northern part of the compound was attacked, and this side might be attacked at any moment. The servants and my men will help you, but you need to move quickly."

He smiled as the girl nodded and calmly began herding her family towards the exit, giving orders to the house servants and his men, with surprising skill for a girl her age. He tried to remember the girl's name, but couldn't place her among Boss Nakamori's huge family tree. Once he was sure everyone was heading out, the blonde turned and sprinted off to find his boss, taking two of his men with him.

While they ran, a sick feeling began entering the blonde's stomach, _'Why isn't the boss with his family?'_

Unknowingly, he began to increase his pace, quickly leaving his two men behind. He rounded corner after corner, sprinted at full speed down each hall, but it still took him a while to reach the room he sought. Once he reached the office doors, he didn't stop, instead he opted to lower his head, close his eyes, and bulldoze through the thin doors, scattering debris across the room, "Boss we're under attack!"

Naruto opened his eyes and brushed what was left of the door from his shoulders, "Boss!?"

The room was quiet, and he cursed when he caught sight of Yobu's broken body lying in a pool of red on the rug. The large man wouldn't have gone down in a fair fight without destroying half the mansion, and since the office was relatively undisturbed, it left only one option; Yobu had been taken by surprise.

Naruto quickly drew his sword and slowed his breathing, "Come out from your hidey hole, assassin."

A low chuckle emanated from the shadows of the room, setting the blonde on edge. Slowly, a shadow detached itself from the corner, dragging Boss Nakamori with it.

Naruto growled when he spied a gag across the old man's mouth, and what looked to be metal string around both wrists, holding them together, "Careful little _yakuza_, wouldn't want me to kill the queen bee, now would you?"

The blonde growled again and stood up straight, "What do you want here, _ninja_?"

He watched as the shadow began to take shape, suddenly becoming a tall man clan entirely in black with a sword handle showing from behind his shoulder. The ninja hauled the old man into the air with one hand and gently laid him on his large desk, earning a surprised look from Naruto. The tall man must have been extremely strong to have lifted the heavy, older man up onto the desk, especially to do so with one hand.

Naruto didn't dwell on the thought however, and soon the scowl returned to his face, "Why attack the compound? Why not just come for the "queen bee" instead?"

He slowly backed up as the masked man slowly strode out into the middle of the room, his arms folded casually across his chest. In truth, Naruto knew the man could probably kill him, but if he could just stall for time, his men would be able to catch up and together, they could outnumber the ninja. Naruto had killed ninja before, but had always managed to catch them off-guard and end the fight with a well-placed blade swing; the ninja before him however, was more than prepared to fight back.

The ninja chuckled again and drew his sword, "Ah, but where is the fun in killing the queen, if you can't stir the hive?"

Naruto scowled and backed towards the door a little more, "Sounds pretty messed up to me. You're not one of those psycho nutjobs, are you?"

He watched in satisfaction as the masked man's eyes squinted, and he could only imagine the grimace that most likely adorned the man's face. The tall man kept moving towards his position in the center of the room, and Naruto tensed, expecting an attack. However, the ninja stopped moving towards him, and instead began cleaning the dark stains from his sword, which Naruto guessed was Yobu's blood.

"Your large friend, the corpse over there?" the man pointed at Yobu's body, "He died rather miserably. I tried to make it quick, but he kept thrashing so badly after his throat had been cut; I had to crush him."

Naruto growled and cast a glance at the still form of his friend, '_Crushed him? How?_'

He couldn't possibly imagine the ninja "crushing" a man as large as Yobu, and it put him a little on edge. Sadly, the ninja seemed to notice his reaction, and chuckled again, "Ah, so you are curious as to what I mean, eh? Well, to put it simply, I used something called chakra."

Naruto sent him curious look and brought his sword up in front of himself defensively, "Go fuck yourself; you can't use chakra to physically crush a person."

"A _yakuza_ thug knows of chakra? Interesting," the ninja mused, casting a glance towards the door.

Naruto saw the man's eyes and he cursed his men for being so slow, "Yea. Chakra, it's energy from within our bodies – Oomph!"

His sentence cut off when the ninja's foot collided with his gut, sending him crashing into one of the expensive vases adorning the office. He hissed in pain and rolled out of the way as another leg flew towards him and smashed into the wall. He didn't have long however, because as soon as he righted himself; the masked man was upon him again, this time bringing his sword to bear.

Naruto raised his own sword and deflected the blow, before pirouetting the ninja's blade and using his free hand to send a punch into the masked man's gut. The man stumbled back a bit, and Naruto attacked, bringing his katana over his head in a downward motion, attempting to split the ninja in half. His enemy rolled away from the swing, but not quickly enough. Naruto's blade bit into the back of the man's leg, sending a spray of blood over his sword and hands, and earning himself a yelp of pain from his opponent.

"Not so cocky anymore, are we?" Naruto teased, backing away from the wounded man while wiping his blood-slicked hands on his kimono.

"I commend you for knowing your way around the sword, but that is a minor talent. A true ninja has no need for a blade."

Without warning, the man broke into an odd rhythm of hand signals and Naruto cursed himself; if a ninja started doing his chakra tricks, then Naruto would have no chance at beating him. The masked man's swordsmanship had given him some hope of victory, as Naruto was a master of the blade and the ninja seemed to be merely adequate. Now however, the ninja would use skills that Naruto's superior sword skill couldn't combat, and it frightened him a little. Once again, Naruto caught himself glancing towards the door. '_Where are they? Those fuck-wads better have not gotten lost!'_

Naruto growled and dashed across the room, sword trailing behind him in preparation for another overhead slash, "Big words, ninja, too bad you don't have time to back them up!"

Before Naruto could cross the room however, the ninja stopped performing hand signals and held up a clawed hand in his direction, "**Senaijashuu!**"

Naruto watched as three snakes shot out of the man's black sleeves, lengthening and stretching towards him at an amazing speed. Throwing himself into a roll, Naruto passed under the snakes and into the man's guard, stabbing his sword towards his opponent's middle. The ninja was prepared however, and dodged the seeking blade, before sending Naruto to the floor with a roundhouse kick. In a last-ditch effort, Naruto swung his blade in a sideways arc, trying to catch the ninja's legs, but missed when the ninja leapt to the other side of the room. He tried to get back on his feet and defend himself, but the snakes were too fast. The reptiles swarmed over him, two of them wrapping around his legs and arms, and the third biting into the flesh of his neck, releasing its venom into his blood.

Naruto almost panicked when he felt the fangs puncture his neck, but calmed himself rather quickly; he wouldn't let his enemy see him beaten, "That the best you got? Fuckin' ninja coward.."

His opponent chuckled and walked over slowly, seeming to gloat in his underhanded victory, "A coward am I? A smart fighter uses every advantage available to him. You used your swordsmanship, and I used my chakra - a fair fight, if you ask me."

Naruto grunted and blinked his eyes as his vision started to blur, "Yea yea, pussy, keep lying to yourself to make the shame go away; I don't mind."

He smiled when the ninja growled and got down on a knee next to him, obviously wanting to flaunt his victory to Naruto's face. His vision was becoming increasingly blurry, but he could still pick up the ninja's face as his opponent looked down at him, "What? You wanna kiss me?"

His bravado was shattered however, when through the blur of the ninja's face, two red orbs lit up in place of his eyes, "Silly little _yakuza.._you are dying as we speak. Your vision is becoming blurred, your brain is fogging up, and yet you still taunt and goad me. You will pass from this world with a whisper, and no one will remember your name. But before you pass into death's embrace, I want you to see these eyes and know that have I killed your friends and comrades, and will soon kill your beloved boss."

Naruto could no longer see, and his thoughts seemed to slow and evade him, but he still managed to spit a glob of blood and saliva into his opponents face, "F-fuck you. I c-could care less, you arrogant prick. You can't b-break me.."

The ninja's fist smashed into Naruto's jaw, but he didn't feel any pain, and that worried him. He listened to the man wipe the moisture from his face, before wiping it on Naruto's kimono, "Disgusting. You really are weak, resulting to something so demeaning in the face of defeat. There is no honor among your kind."

Naruto laughed defiantly, "You and...me..both..n-ninja.."

The sound of running feet alerted both him and the ninja, and he felt the man get up and walk away from him. Naruto cursed the guards for taking so long, but hoped they would at least be able to save his boss. His hopes were drowned however, as he heard the ninja come back, and felt something heavy and wet drop onto the floor beside him. His heart raced and he tried to reach out and find whatever the object was, but his body refused to move, and he wondered whether he was still trapped by the reptiles.

A condescending voice cut through his thoughts however, "Do not worry, _yakuza_. The snakes will come with me, and then you and your boss can stay here and enjoy each other's company, uninterrupted. Enjoy your death."

Naruto tried to reply, but his tongue felt swollen and much too large for his mouth. The poison was really doing a job on his nervous system and body in general; he was completely paralyzed. The ninja chuckled, and Naruto heard him leave the room, just as the many footsteps and voices of his men entered the room.

"Naruto-sama!" a voice called from seemingly everywhere at once. The words contorted and faded in and out, before they were just a buzz in his ears.

He tried to listen for their voices, but the sound no longer came, and his hearing quit completely. Naruto began to panic; his sight was gone, his touch was gone, his sense of smell was gone, he couldn't taste, and finally..he couldn't hear. He swore he was dead, but for some reason he was aware of being alive.

What Naruto could only describe as pure blackness surrounded him, separating him from life, but not quite granting him the release of death. His thoughts became nonsense, and confusion gripped him. He wanted a cigarette. Where was he? Who am I? He hated snakes. Where is the boss? I am dead?

Just when he thought he was lost, a dreadful voice cut through the blackness, "**Hello, Naruto.**"

Naruto couldn't reply, so he merely waited for the voice to sound again, hoping against hope that it wasn't the shinigami, come to claim his soul.

The voice chuckled, **"No, you aren't dead, not yet."**

Naruto was confused for a moment, but suddenly understood how the voice new the cause of his fear, '_You can hear my thoughts?_'

Another chuckle boomed from the darkness, **"Yes. I can hear your thoughts."**

'_Who are you?'_ Naruto willed himself to say.

"**I am your burden. Whether you know it or not, I am the cause for the hate you received all those years ago," **the voice replied.

Naruto pondered that for a moment, but couldn't discern what the voice was implying, _'What do you mean? People don't hate me; they fear me.'_

The voice sighed audibly, **"You know that tattoo on your stomach? That is a seal; a seal that binds me, Kyuubi no Kitsune, within your mortal body. You are host to the greatest demon to ever walk the mortal realm. The people of **_**Konoha**_** hate me, and since you are my host; that hate was transferred to you."**

Naruto wished he could laugh out loud. The sheer weight of what the voice had said, was..incredible, '_Haha. Very funny, I almost believe that one. Demon in my stomach, huh? That's fuckin' rich..'_

"**It is the truth. Fucking rich or not, it is the truth of your being and legacy. Your home, **_**Konoha **_**sealed me inside you, and until your "death" we couldn't contact one another, otherwise we would have met much sooner, I assure you,"** the voice stated thoughtfully.

Naruto was being to get a little worried, _'Konoha isn't my home, but that seems like something they would do. The assholes would concoct something like that just to give me hell, no doubt about that. But, I really have a tough time believing that there is a demon trapped within me.'_

"**Let me open your eyes, child,"** the voice seemed to whisper, before disappearing.

Without warning, sight, sound, taste, smell, and sound returned to Naruto in a rush. Suddenly he was alive again, and the return of all his senses at once made him puke. Spilling the contents of his stomach all over the floor, Naruto took in his surroundings. He was in..a sewer, complete with leaky pipes, stagnant water, and slimy, brick ceilings and walls. He had imagined hell would be a little more..something.

Naruto took the whole scene in and chuckled out loud, "This is sooo fucked up!"

The same rumbling chuckle from before echoed around the sewer and Naruto almost threw up again. Deciding to find out just what was going on, Naruto decided to find the source of the mysterious voice, and with that in mind, began walking down one of the various sewer tunnels. It didn't take long before the tunnel emptied out into a massive room, split in half by a row of massive steel bars.

Naruto sighed and leaned against one of the bars, "This is too weird."

"**Truly,"** the voice answered from the other side of the bars.

Naruto's throat caught and went silent as the source of the frightening voice made itself known, and he slowly backed away from the cage. A massive red fox padded into his vision, like a red sun rising in the night, its body glowing with an ominous red color. Raw energy seemed to collect and bubble around the demon, hissing and moving with a life of its own; it hurt Naruto's eyes to look at it too long, and he quickly averted his gaze to the fox's face. He was mystified that such a being could actually reside within him, and his amazement showed openly on his features. The fox grinned at him, and Naruto marveled at the never-ending row of white fangs that it possessed, each one as big as his body. Such was the glory of the Nine-tailed Demon Fox, Kyuubi.

Naruto fell to his knees and looked up at the fox with a somber expression "So it's true, huh? Those Konoha assholes really did lock you up inside me, and we both got screwed over."

The fox guffawed and broke into laughter, making it look even more intimidating, **"Hahaha! That is surprisingly the simplest explanation for our relationship I've ever heard!"**

Naruto said nothing, and continued to take in the sight of the giant fox. Everything was readily piecing itself together in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more he started to hate what he was learning.

Kyuubi seemed to notice his state and commented, **"The truth can sometimes be more deadly than a million lies, child. Let us make this truth something simple that we can swallow, shall we?"**

Naruto nodded his head and looked up at the demon expectantly, "What does this all mean?"

The large fox sighed and lay down, resting its head on massive paws, **"I am sealed within your soul; the only type of immaterial prison that can hold a being of power such as I. Your late father sealed me within you to save your village, and in so doing; doomed you to the life of an outcast. However, you left the village and gained acceptance in another life, so we were never forced to confront each other. You are my host and thus we are one, but completely separate at the same time." **

Naruto stayed silent and felt his gorge rise, "Okayy..So what does this mean? Like what is the benefit of having you inside my soul?"

The fox chuckled again and waggled his eyebrows comically, **"The benefits? Well, let's take the more immediate benefits first. I am going to give you back your life."**

Naruto chuckled drily and shook his head, "Little late for that, don't you think? Don't bother."

Kyuubi seemed perplexed at this, and raised his eyebrows in confusion, **"You don't wish for life?"**

Naruto sighed and leaned back, looking into the giant fox's red eyes, "What is the point? That ninja bastard killed everything I know. I have no family or love to live for. My life was a hollow existence of death, alcohol, and sorrow. Why would I want to return to less than even that?"

Kyuubi seemed to ponder his words, before grinning broadly, **"Revenge? Do you not wish to crush the life of the one that stole what little light you had in your own life?"**

Naruto stewed it over for a while before raising an eyebrow at the demon, "I suppose, but what's in it for you? Why are you so interested in helping me out? I am your prison."

"**Simple, I want to repay your father for his sacrifice. I have battled and destroyed countless demons, mortals, and gods, but none like your father. For a mere mortal to best me, a destruction incarnate? Nothing of the like has ever been done. Call me sentimental, but your father was a warrior of the greatest caliber, and thus deserves the respect such talent warrants. **_**Konoha**_** didn't honor your father, but as his final opponent, I shall," **the fox stated, sounding reverent and thoughtful.

Naruto gaped at the fox, "Who is my father, and why would you sacrifice your life for me? I mean it doesn't really make sense if he kicked your ass."

The fox nodded his head and grinned as he recalled something, **"Ah, your father was a great man, a dirty fighter, but a great and clever man all the same. I slaughtered droves of puny, **_**Konoha**_** shinobi ****before he came to face me. At first I merely swiped at him with my tails, expecting him to be crushed, but he wouldn't be crushed. He was much too fast and cunning for such an attack; and that would be my downfall. He struck and injured me, something which no mortal has ever accomplished in my centuries of existence. After that, we battled for hours, rending great gashes in the countryside, each taking as good as we gave. That night he brought out a newborn, and I laughed at him, mocking him for a fool. Before I knew it, I was sealed within you, and your father was dead. He gave his life to defeat me, and in doing so, gained my utmost respect. Other than the battle, I know little of your father – but it matters not, because battle brings out the truth in a being. Now, as to why I would give my life for yours? It is simply a gift to your father's spirit. Also, I shall meet him in death and renew our battle; something I have been wishing to do for a long time. A life for a life, it seems an acceptable trade."**

Naruto was dumbstruck. Kyuubi no Kitsune, supposedly the most powerful being in existence, wanted to die in order to pay respects to his father? It was absurd and humbling at the same time, and Naruto suddenly wished he had known his mysterious parent.

Naruto nodded his head and a small smile crept onto his face, "So, you get to go and have a rematch with dad, and I get a chance to make another life for myself? I'm oddly intrigued by your proposal.."

The giant fox chuckled and snapped his teeth, **"I am glad you are considering it. It is not often that one has a chance to reinvent their life; you are truly lucky."**

Naruto nodded and turned to look the face in the face, "So, I guess after this little trick I won't be hearing you in my head, will I?"

Kyuubi shook his head sadly, **"No. I will no longer be part of you. I will however, leave my mark and a few things behind."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow and urged the fox to continue, "What do you mean?"

"**Ah, but that is my little secret. You are not ninja and do not use your chakra, but if you have a chance, get a shinobi to take a "look" inside of you. Their reaction, I predict, will be quite humorous. Also, that tattoo on your stomach that appears and disappears will return and stay permanently,"** the fox explained, standing up and stretching its huge limbs.

Naruto smiled and shook his head, "This is all so weird. Three days ago I was a normal guy, doing his job and getting drunk off cheap liquor. Now I'm about to be resurrected to life by apparently the most powerful demon in existence, just because my dad whooped your ass in a fight. Jeez what a trip.."

Kyuubi grinned again and finished stretching, **"Without such surprises, life wouldn't be worth living. Before we do this, I would like to advise you on something, child."**

Naruto ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "Shoot for it."

The giant fox nodded and stared intently down at him, **"All these years I have shared your life; the good, the bad, everything you have experienced. I know you feel loyalty towards the Nakamori man, but this life, this **_**yakuza**_** life..it is not for you, child. You were born to be shinobi, just like your father. I am not saying that you should return to **_**Konoha**_**, as your experience there was what caused ****you to run away, but you should seek training **_**somewhere**_**. You have greatness in you, if only you would embrace it, rather than run away from it; I am sure it would bring you the happiness you seek."**

Naruto could only stare silently at the demon. To think that a being of supposed pure evil, a being that Naruto had just met, could know him so well; it shook him to the core. In face of the facts, Naruto had to admit he really wasn't happy with the _yakuza_, and he never had been. He had spent his life kowtowing to Boss Nakamori, simply because the old man had shown him kindness. The shame swelled and formed a knot in his chest; Naruto almost wanted to cry out of pity for himself, "I know. You probably think I'm pathetic, right?"

Kyuubi sighed and shook his furry head, **"No, Naruto, I do not see you as pathetic. I see you as a confused mortal, searching for the meaning of his existence. It happens to many of your kind. As fragile and innocent as mortals are, most don't know the purpose of their life; most have to search for it, and some never find it. You however, were able to adapt to a different life and in so doing, blinded yourself to what you really are. Sure, you found a tiny amount of happiness with your late fiancé, and again with that girl in the prison, but overall, you despise your life. I can only hope that you find the strength to grasp this advantage and forge a new one that suits you."**

Naruto nodded his head solemnly and wiped a stray tear that was making its way down his cheek, "Thank you, Kyuubi."

The fox shook his head again and grinned, **"Do not mention it, child. I am glad you take my advice to heart; most people would not trust the word of a demon, even one as magnificent as I."**

Naruto chuckled lightly and waved the compliment off, "Bah. I have never been one to judge. I have final question though, before we do this thing. Why did you attack Konoha? You seem pretty laid back and thoughtful to me."

Kyuubi chuckled darkly and his eyes glowed. **"Do not take me for something I am not, Naruto. I have sent millions of souls to the shinigami and have wreaked chaos, and destruction upon countless worlds; I am truly death incarnate. However, nineteen years trapped within a human host can seriously mellow a being out; I do not recommend it. As to why I attacked **_**Konoha**_**? There was a certain ninja that belonged to that village that I sought to destroy, no matter what obstacle got in my way. The ninja I speak of was a man so lost within his own power that he sought to bind me to his will, and control my power. So, being the demon that I am; I went to destroy him. However, as fate would have it, the thing I sought to avoid by bringing death to this man, would greet me there. Your father sealed me and my target escaped me; a sad end indeed."**

Naruto nodded thoughtfully and sighed, looking around the sewer for the last time, "I understand. You ready to do this?"

Kyuubi grinned his massive grin and the room instantly disappeared, leaving only Naruto and the massive fox in a sea of darkness, **"I won't say it has been nice knowing you, but know that I have not entirely loathed being a part of you, Uzumaki Naruto. Take this second chance and use it well."**

Naruto smiled contentedly as his vision began to fade and his senses started disappearing again, "I will. Say hi to dad for me, Kyuubi-_chan_."

The last thing Naruto heard was the fox's booming chuckle, before his world went completely silent and dark. The darkness didn't last long however and soon he felt a burning sensation on his stomach that began to spread throughout his body. It felt like hot water was being poured over his body and limbs, and to his surprise, wherever the heat spread, his mobility returned there also. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, as he heard his heartbeat begin to thump in his ears, pumping new life into his icy veins. Finally, the heat swarmed up his neck and washed over his head, returning his senses to him. He was alive.

Naruto sat up quickly, gasping for air, as his lungs woke up fully. He heard a scream, and he opened his eyes, blinking through the blurriness of his vision. Moving into a sitting position, he waited until his senses cleared before looking around the room and spotting the source of the scream. Shaking in disbelief, one of the house servants huddled in the corner with her eyes clamped tightly shut, "Please..don't kill me.."

Naruto tried to laugh, but his throat felt raw and dry so he only managed to choke, "Not gonna kill you. Get some water please?"

The servant nodded dumbly, and obeyed his instructions seemingly on auto-pilot. She handed him a glass of water, and then went to cower in the corner again as if nothing had happened. He emptied the contents of the glass in one gulp, swishing the refreshing liquid around in his throat to moisten his parched mouth. Once he was satisfied, he shakily got to his feet, bracing himself against the bed he had been lying on. Naruto waited a few minutes till his limbs had woken up, before grabbing his sword from the bedside table and heading out the door, leaving the house servant behind without an explanation. He had things to check on, and bags to pack.

As he walked he noticed he had dried blood on his face, and was still wearing the same thing he had been when the attack had happened, '_How long have I been out?'_

Once he had rounded the corner, he stopped dead in his tracks. Down the hallway, he could see a body lying on the floor of his boss' office; he hoped his suspicions were wrong as to who the corpse belonged to. Slowly making his way down the hall, Naruto pushed the broken door aside and stepped into the room, not noticing the shocked glances that greeted him from the people in the room. His entire focus was on the headless corpse of what had been Boss Nakamori. After a few minutes something tugged at his sleeve and he turned to see Nakamori's daughter looking up at him in bewilderment, "N-Naruto-senpai?"

Naruto shook his head, remembering her to be the girl that had evacuated the family during the attack, "Umm, yea. I'm sorry, what's your name?"

The girl shook her head and gripped his arm tightly, as if he could disappear in an instant, "Miko. How..are you alive? The guards..they said.."

Naruto could've smacked himself. He had been confirmed to be dead while he was gone, and now all of a sudden wasn't dead; it could've thrown any sane person for a loop. He smiled weakly and waved his arms around the room, "I was umm.. unconscious is all. I am better now though, see?"

The assembled Nakamori family members, servants, and yakuza thugs all let out sighs of relief, some even laughing and slapping each other's backs, "I told you he wasn't dead! No one kills Naruto-sama!"

"You owe me 50 ryo!"one yakuza bellowed across the room to his friend.

"Thank kami, we're saved!" an elderly woman, Naruto guessed to be family member, exclaimed.

Naruto held up his hands and looked around the room, suddenly realizing he had walked in on a mourning ceremony and the people present must've been the survivors of the attack, "Listen! I need to know what happened while I was out; did you find out who attacked us?"

The group of people stopped talking almost immediately, and Miko squeezed his arm a little tighter to get his attention, "This is all that survived the attack; most died in the attack or from wounds afterwards. We tried to save all we could, but there just wasn't enough time. We never found out who attacked us either, but while the guards were searching the compound, they found this stuck on the roof."

Miko handed him a small note, with the words for "explode" written on it. Naruto didn't know quite what it was, but he had a feeling that it was dangerous. He nodded his thanks to the girl and used his free arm to tuck the small piece of paper away in his kimono, "Thank you, this'll help me out a lot."

Naruto then turned his attention to the body on the floor, with the man's head wrapped in silk, sitting beside it. He scowled as he remembered the ninja dropping something heavy and wet beside him, '_The bastard decapitated the boss while I was still alive!'_

Miko released his arm a little and coughed to get his attention, "Naruto-senpai, what would you have us do?"

Naruto blinked in confusion, looking down at the girl a few seconds, before realizing she was asking for orders, "Bury the boss' body, then take everyone here and get out of town. Go wherever you need to, but stay away from Yosin. Once the boss' death goes public, a power vacuum will start up and possibly lead to another gang war that you can't possibly hope to win."

Miko looked like a fish out of water, she obviously hadn't expected something so drastic and her expression made Naruto pity her, "W-wait, you are saying I have to take everyone here and abandon the compound?"

Naruto nodded and put a hand under the girl's chin, bringing her gaze up to meet his, "Yes, Miko. You are in charge now, and you have to get your family and _your_ men to safety."

The girl almost started to cry, but choked it down and nodded solemnly, "I suppose that means you won't be coming with us then?"

He nodded and called some of the guards over pointing towards the corpse and then to the garden, "That's right, I am going to find the bastard that did this. I am going to find him, and kill him. So it is up to you to take over in your father's place and protect your people. I have faith in you, and the men will not question your orders."

The girl nodded and ushered the assembled people to begin packing for the journey, and Naruto smiled when they obeyed immediately. He had to admit the girl had a commanding presence like her late father, and he didn't doubt that she would lead the Nakamori gang into a new age of prosperity given time.

As the small mob began to break off, doing the chores tasked to them, Naruto pulled Miko aside and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "I am sorry to leave you with such a burden, Miko, but my path leads me elsewhere. I suggest you take them all to _Suna_, it is far enough away that the rival gangs won't bother to follow you. Once I get settled, I will write you with information on where I am and my situation. If you find yourself in real danger, don't hesitate to call on me; I promise to come as soon as I can. Good luck, Miko."

The girl smiled weakly, and unexpectedly wrapped her slender arms around his neck, pulling him into a warm embrace, "Thank you so much, Naruto."

Naruto smiled uncomfortably and gently released the girl after a few minutes, "See you around."

Without another word, the girl turned and left the room, barking orders left and right like a ship captain with an unruly crew. He smiled as he watched her leave; his confidence firmly placed upon the girl's young shoulders. Glancing over the room one last time, Naruto strapped his sword across his back and made his way out of the room. He walked slowly through the compound, taking in the damage that had been done to the massive house. Once he reached what had been his room, he sighed at the sight; the entire room had been crushed and burnt beyond recognition, along with all his possessions. Shrugging it off, he made his way into the middle hall, before a thought snaked its way into his head. '_Sakura_!'

Naruto cursed his absentmindedness and rushed off towards the prison in a sprint, reaching the relatively undamaged row of cells in mere seconds. Pushing past a fallen timber, he rounded the corner and peered inside the cell he had shared with the pink-haired girl. The girl was gone; the only clue she had ever been there were the three blankets and two ruined, white towels. He smiled sadly at the short, happy moment he had spent with the girl, it would be a memory he could cherish.

He glanced around the cell a while, before making his way out of the compound, stopping on the steps to look back at the large building that had made up the past nine years of his life. Smirking at how sentimental it was, Naruto lit a cigarette and took a long draw on it, enjoying the nicotine before blowing a plume of smoke into the morning air, '_About fucking time.._'

Smiling happily, the blonde made his way down the steps, and melted into the early morning traffic of civilians walking to work. As if responding to the blonde's mood; the sun chose that moment to break through the left over rain clouds and bathe the city in gold.

* * *


	4. Chapter 3

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 3_

A week had passed and Naruto was still no where closer to finding information on the mysterious, red-eyed ninja. He had spent day after day traveling from one small village to another, using his _yakuza_ reputation to solicit information from various bartenders, club goers, and other people that often held such information. No one had a clue to the whereabouts of his prey, and it was beginning to annoy him.

Naruto sighed and looked down the hill towards the village of Otafuku Gai. He had purposely put it last on his list of places to search for information, due to its enormous size. The massive village had become famous for the ancient fortress at its heart and its booming entertainment district, which was said to have more gambling dens than it had bathrooms. Either way, it was the last place on his list, and if he couldn't find information here; he would have to abandon his search, as he was almost completely broke.

Naruto took one last glance over the village before tossing his cigarette away, '_Here goes nothing..'_

It took him a few minutes to get to the bottom of the hill, but once he had reached the bottom, the land flattened out and he was at the village gates in a few minutes. Nodding towards the two guards that manned the gate; he made his way through the gates and disappeared into the crowd.

The main street was extremely wide and was where the majority of business took place in the village, and Naruto caught himself admiring how much business there really was. All facets of shops and restaurants lined the sides of the street, and peddlers carted their mobile goods through the masses like ships on the sea. As he walked he took note of different "shops" that he was sure to be gambling dens in disguise; he made a mental note to visit as many as he could. The city truly was booming, in every sense of the word, and it suddenly made Naruto feel very small in comparison. The crowd seemed to swallow people whole, subjecting them to hustle and bustle of progress and business.

It didn't take long for him to tire of the horde of bodies, so between that and the midday sun; Naruto was getting claustrophobic. Spotting a bar along the street he was traveling, he exited the flood of people and entered the small building. A few of the regulars gave him a curious glance, but averted their gaze when they noticed the sword strapped to his back. Wiping his brow and exhaling loudly, Naruto took a seat on one of the vacant stools at the bar. "Yo, give a fella' a cold brew, eh?"

The bartender, a greasy middle-aged man with a pink scar running across his jaw snorted and snatched one of the mugs off a rack overhanging the counter, "You from out of town?"

Naruto nodded and lit a cigarette, "Yep, just got in today, and I'm looking for information. You wouldn't happen to be wise on the happenings of ninja, would you?"

The bartender paused for a second, but quickly returned to filling the blonde's drink, "Nope. Dun' know nothing about their kind? Why do ya ask?"

Naruto sighed and accepted the frothy brew from the man, setting his cigarette down before draining the mug in one go, "Got myself a score to settle. You wouldn't perhaps be lying to me, now would you?"

The bartender sent him a glare, and Naruto heard the scraping of chairs from behind him, as two rough looking men got to their feet, "I think it would be best if you left here."

Naruto smirked at the man, and cast a glance at the two men standing behind him, "I think not.."

Without warning, one of the men lunged forward, producing a knife from his sleeve as if by magic. Naruto dodged the knife, rolled off the stool and drew his sword in one motion, before spinning on his heel and slashing the man across the back. Naruto's sword hummed and split the skin open like a knife through butter. The attacker dropped his knife and cried out as a fountain of blood spewed from the gash, painting the man behind him red. Soon the man's legs went out and he crashed to the floor, spilling crimson across the polished, wood floors.

Naruto sighed and watched the man slowly bleed to death, "Wrong choice of weapon, champ."

Seeing his comrade go down, the other man made a break for the exit, but Naruto tripped him as he went by. As soon as the man hit the floor, Naruto was on him, picking him back up and throwing him through the glass of the front window, sending glass everywhere and causing the villagers outside to scatter in fear.

Naruto turned back to the bartender and raised his sword to point at the man's pudgy chest, "Sit down."

The bartender scowled and crossed his arms defiantly, "Boy, you don't know what you are doing.."

Naruto watched as the rest of the patrons of the bar began standing up, producing various knives, and blunt weapons. He smiled and looked around the room, whistling as a few of the men produced katanas from hidden sheaths on their backs. He then knew exactly what he had walked into; he was in a _yakuza_ bar.

Still smiling brightly, he set his sword down on the counter and started removing the top of his kimono, earning a few curious glances from the men beginning to surround him. Once the garment was completely removed, Naruto laid it down on top of his sword and slowly spun in place so that all the men could see his back through the fishnet shirt he wore. There in full view, splayed out across his muscled back, lay a very auspicious and magnificent tattoo, depicting a black dragon spewing black flames.

Each and every man in the bar lowered their heads to bow, as if they were attending a religious service. They knew what the markings on Naruto's back meant, and the consequences of harming someone bestowed with the rank the blonde held.

The famous tattoo was known to be inked into the backs of only the most ruthless of _yakuza_ gangsters, and usually denoted that the carrier was a man of high ranking in his gang. The dragon sprawled across the entire length of a man's back, from shoulder to shoulder. The dragon was only tattooed by the greatest of artists and seemed to be alive and writhing upon the skin of its host. Naruto had never really thought much of the tattoo, but his fellow _yakuza_ members and most of the village girls were fascinated by it. Needless to say, Naruto used the sacred emblem to his advantage.

The bartender started to splutter and was quickly losing his bravado, "I am so sorry! Please forgive me!"

Naruto smiled and watched as the bartender waved his men off, "Well, that was interesting. Is your tongue loosened now?"

The bartender shook his head vigorously, pouring Naruto a drink with trembling hands, "Yes sir, I just had to make sure. You know how it is.."

Naruto took a draw from his cigarette and sat back down at the bar, "Yea yea, chill out, I won't stir any shit with your boss or anything; I just want some information."

Naruto took out the small paper seal his men had found on the compound's roof, setting it gingerly on the countertop, ushering the bartender to take a look at it, "This seal has something to do with the ninja that I'm looking for. Does it look familiar?"

He watched as the bartender hesitantly picked up the small note, looking it over with a practiced eye, "It is a shinobi explosive seal, which is obvious. However, I don't know enough about it to tell you what hidden village makes their seals this particular way."

Naruto frowned and crushed his cigarette into an ashtray, before taking a deep drink from his mug, "I also want to know of any red-eyed ninja that you've come across."

The bartender sighed and looked at him wearily, "I wouldn't have the slightest clue about that, but I know someone that does. The resident expert on ninja is a man named Saro Kuni; he's a den owner that runs the Blue Moon bar down the street a few blocks. If anyone can answer your questions; it's him."

Naruto grinned and finished his beer, "Thanks, you have saved me a lot of time."

The bartender nodded and watched him stand up, "I'll send word that you're coming."

Naruto nodded and slipped into the top part of his kimono, before securing his sheathed sword on his back. He tossed the bartender a coin and made his way out the door, jerking a thumb over his back at the dead man on the floor, "I might suggest finding some better recruits; that guy was slow as hell."

Without waiting for an answer he stepped back out into the street, once again disappearing within the crowd.

* * *

Saro Kuni was waiting patiently at the door when the blonde arrived at the Blue Moon, and personally greeted him with a big smile and handshake, "Ah! Here you are! Bobi sent word about you earlier, and I must say I am most intrigued by what you seek."

Naruto smirked and looked around the poorly lit gambling den, "You must be Saro Kuni. Can we speak somewhere more private?"

Saro caught on and sent a comically suspicious glance around the room, before smiling and pointing towards a door in the back, "Yes. Wouldn't want any prying eyes, now would we? Follow me!"

Naruto watched the skinny, little man make his way across the room, but didn't follow him immediately, instead opting to glance around the room and take note of the occupants of the dark, gambling den. The variety of people that usually occupied the dens had always interested him, but this establishment was even more diverse than the ones in Yosin, and he almost laughed out loud when he spied some of the more peculiar gamblers. The majority of the room was made up of shopkeepers and hard-laborers, accompanied by the occasional prostitute or liberal-minded girlfriend; nothing out of place there. However, at one table, two monks were arguing over losses, and to the table left of them, an even more distraught little girl was having an argument with a dealer. Naruto wondered where the girl's parents were, and just how much the little girl had lost. Naruto also noted the usual _yakuza_ men laying around, apparently bored with their duties. The last table was what really caught his attention however, as it was occupied by a blonde with the largest set of breasts he had ever seen. He studied the woman for a bit and squinted his eyes skeptically at her amazing assets, _'Wow. Just wow…_'

Shaking his head, Naruto took his eyes off the woman and made his way over to the back room, going inside while Saro held the door open for him. Taking a seat without asking, he lit a cigarette and placed the explosive seal on the coffee table beside his chair, "What can you tell me about this?"

Saro took a seat on the other side of the table, and slowly ran his hand over the small note, "Hmm. This is obviously an explosive seal, Grade 2, designed for blowing holes in cement walls. Shinobi call them "jail busters". Simple devise really, you just write the kanji for "explode" on them and pump in a moderate amount of chakra. Once applied, they will explode after a few seconds, releasing the chakra and blowing clean through various materials: metal, concrete, wood, and even earth."

Naruto's cigarette dropped from his mouth onto the floor, and when he didn't put it out, Saro stomped on it for him. He had expected information, but the little man knew so _much_ about the note with just one glance; it was a little much for Naruto to take in.

Naruto finally came to his senses and raised an eyebrow at the man across from him, "How did you know all that? You barely even looked at it!"

Saro smiled and waved a hand to dismiss any praise, "Before I started this place; I was an advisor to the _daimyo_ of this country. I was put in charge of handling our relations with the shinobi villages, and thus, I learned a lot about them. When I retired, my resources didn't stop sending me information, and now I am the go-to-guy for information on our sneaky, little friends."

Naruto smirked and thanked the gods for the change of luck, "Ok, well then what can you tell me of shinobi possessing red eyes?"

Saro frowned and leaned back in his chair, "You'll have to be more specific. Red eyes could come from a jutsu, blood-line limits, or even just odd genes. Trust me; I have seen some odd ninja in my time!"

Naruto's optimism faded and he frowned as well, "I have no idea what a jutsu is, much less a blood-line limit. Genes I am aware of, but the man I encountered did not naturally have red eyes; they were activated somehow."

Saro nodded thoughtfully and stood up, "As of right now, I am not prevalent to any information on such ability and can't think of such a jutsu either. What I will do though, is send word to some of my informers and see what they come up with; it is the best I can offer you. If you need room and board I will have it provided for your wait."

Naruto nodded and sighed tiredly, before standing up and making his way to the door, "Thanks, I own you one.."

Saro smiled and waved him off with a chuckle, "Nonsense, Naruto-senpai. I am an old friend of Nakamori-sama, and I know of your service to him; it is the least I can do."

Naruto smirked and exited the room, waving over his hand at the informer, "I'm glad my reputation still counts for something. I think I will gamble a bit before leaving, so send someone to fetch me when my room is ready."

Saro bowed and began to close the door behind him, "As you wish. I might recommend avoiding the blonde at the corner table; she gets violent when she loses."

Naruto chuckled, but didn't reply as he made his way into the middle of the room, casting a mischievous glance at the blonde in the corner, '_Violent eh? We'll see about that..'_

Making his way over to the green, felt-covered table, he slid into a chair across from the busty blonde and nodded towards the dealer to deal him in. The game was _Shichi Narabe_, a simple game for four players, involving each player receiving 13 cards from the 52 card deck. Once the cards were dealt, each player would set out the 7's in their hand in a column on the table. Once that step was done, each player would try to lay out a card in order from 7, for example if an 8 was laid down, a 9 would follow. In the end, the person to get rid of their hand the quickest was the winner. Naruto had decided a long time ago that he had no talent for the game, but still enjoyed the rush of the gamble ever once in a while, and would play anyways.

As he was handed his cards he leaned back and lit a cigarette, taking a long draw on it and blowing a thick cloud of smoke into the air. This earned him a few looks from the occupants of the table, most notably the blonde across from him.

"That'll kill you one day," the blonde woman stated, looking at him from over her cards.

Naruto leaned forward and winked roguishly, merely glancing at his own cards, "I like to live on the edge."

The blonde snorted, but didn't bother to reply, as the cards started moving. The 7's were laid and the turns went around, and after a few minutes; the pudgy merchant to Naruto's immediate left won the round. Naruto ignored him however, and watched the blonde's reaction, as she turned red and a vein appeared on her forehead. She didn't stay mad long however, because she ended up winning the next two rounds and won all her money back. The next three games went smoothly, with Naruto winning a round, the merchant winning another, and the sweaty, shopkeeper to his right winning one as well. By this time the blonde had become quite agitated and her assistant, a pretty brunette accompanied by a strange piglet, had to bring a generous amount of sake to the blonde to keep her calm.

Naruto smirked and leaned back in his chair again as the dealer dealt another round of cards, "What is with the pig, sweetheart?"

He almost laughed out loud, when both the brunette and her master turned to look at him in unison. A small blush rose into the brunette's cheeks, and she was about to reply when the blonde woman cut her off, "None of your damn business!"

Naruto frowned in mock injury, "Now that wasn't very nice. I wasn't talking to you anyways. I was talking to that pretty little thing sitting beside you. You have a name, gorgeous?"

The brunette blushed again and smiled at him, "Shizune."

Naruto smiled and bowed his head, "Ah, what a beautiful name, Shizune-_chan_. It's nice to meet you; I'm Naruto."

The room went silent, and everyone within hearing range, turned to gape at him, especially the _yakuza_ men. Whispers began to break out, and the gamblers began turning back to their games as if nothing had happened, while the _yakuza_ scrambled to return to pretending not to pay attention. Naruto smiled at the poorly-hidden reactions from the den's occupants and returned his attention to the table. The dealer had stopped dealing cards and was looking at him in a peculiar fashion, "You are Uzumaki Naruto? Of the Nakamori?"

Naruto nodded and glanced at the cards in the dealer's hands, "You going to deal, or sit there and gape?"

The man nodded and began dealing the cards again, trying to keep the tremble from his hands.

"So, you are some kind of celebrity around here, eh?" the blonde asked, her words slurring from the massive amount of sake she had consumed.

Naruto nodded again and put an unlit cigarette in his mouth, rolling the stick around absent-mindedly, "Something like that."

The blonde giggled and hiccupped, "So I suppose that means you think that you can get in my assistant's pants, huh?"

Shizune squealed and covered up her master's mouth with her hand, "Tsunade-sama P-please!"

Naruto chuckled as the blonde woman glared at Shizune, "Tsunade, hmm? You have a pretty name as well.."

Both women blushed, the brunette because of her master's earlier words, and the blonde because of Naruto's flirting. He noticed the blushes and grinned at the two women, winking lazily for effect, "Cat got your tongue, Tsunade-_hime_?"

Tsunade growled and glared daggers at him from across the table, "You think you are pretty hot stuff, don't you?"

A tingle of worry lit up in his brain, but Naruto was having too much fun to quit now, so he nodded and winked at the woman, "Not nearly as hot as you or Shizune-chan, unfortunately."

The blonde woman went beet red, from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell, but he decided it would be best for him to stop before he caused problems. Saro wouldn't take kindly if the lady destroyed one of the card tables because of him, and Naruto needed the informer on his side.

Naruto laid his cards on the table and nodded towards the players, "Ladies and gentleman, it has been fun, but I must retire for the night."

The people at the table mumbled their farewells and turned their attention back to the game, all except for Tsunade and Shizune. The blonde looked fit to murder someone and was draining sake bottles at a dangerous pace; it amazed him how much alcohol the woman could take without passing out. Shizune on the other hand had a pleading look in her eyes, and as he stood up and made ready to leave; she stood up as well and came over to him, the little pig soundly asleep in her arms.

Naruto turned and raised an eyebrow at her, "Shizune-chan?"

Shizune blushed at the honorific he put on her name, and looked at her feet shyly, "Naruto-san, I just wanted to apologize for my master; she really is a kind person when you get to know her."

Naruto shrugged and smiled. "No offense taken, but it is _you_ that I wanted to get to know, not her." he whispered.

Shizune's blush lit up and she bit her lip anxiously, looking between the floor and his chest indecisively.

Naruto grinned and put a gentle hand under the girl's chin, bringing her face up to look at his, "I'm up here. Did you have something to say to me, Shizune-chan?"

Shizune's smile turned a little mischievous and she nodded. "Is umm..what my master said true?" she asked hesitantly. Naruto raised a puzzled eyebrow as the girl moved closer to him and laid a hand on his chest, playing with the hem of his kimono, "..do you really want to get in my pants?"

Naruto smirked and leaned in to whisper in the girl's ear. "They do look a little more comfortable than mine.." he cooed.

Before the two could say anything else, a loud cough rang out from the table, interrupting them, "Oi! Shizune! Sake!"

Shizune pulled back from Naruto and rolled her eyes so only he could see, "Tsunade-sama, I'm a little busy right now.."

Tsunade beckoned the girl with her hand. "Busy with that thug? Bah! Get over here girl!" she ordered, holding up an empty shot glass.

Shizune frowned and turned around, glaring at her master. "I'll be right there! Give me a damn min-Eek!" she complained.

Naruto interrupted Shizune's sentence by pulling her close to him with one arm, pressing their bodies perilously close together. Satisfied that the girl wasn't going anywhere, he slowly trailed his free hand down her back and let it rest on her firm backside. Finally, he took a handful of the girl's gorgeous rear end and squeezed, enjoying both the feel of the girl's ass and her appreciative moan that followed.

Naruto leaned down and rested his chin on Shizune's shoulder, whispering into her ear, "Another time, Shizune-chan. See you around."

Without another word, Naruto released the girl and made his way out of the building, leaving behind a stunned Shizune, and a furious Tsunade.

One of the _yakuza_ followed him, and once he was outside; he stopped and waited for the man to catch up, "How may I help you?"

The man bowed respectfully and pointed back into the building, "Saro-sama assigned me to show you the hotel room he has reserved for you. If you would follow me, I'll show you where it is."

Naruto nodded and motioned for the man to lead the way, "By all means."

He followed the man through the maze of streets, each one packed with people, until they reached a large building that could only be the hotel. Upon entering the building Naruto had to smile at how large the building was; Saro had went up a notch in his book.

* * *

On the other side of Otafuku Gai, a lone figure strode confidently down the street, whistling loudly and leering at any girl that walked by. As he passed, random male citizens would seem to recognize him and bow respectfully in his direction, as if they were paying respects to a noble lord or samurai. This wasn't the case however, as female citizens reacted in the exact opposite; scattering from his path, or scowling at him in distaste.

Yes, it was true. Legendary Super-Pervert, and renowned porn novelist, Jiraiya, had come to town.

* * *

Naruto smiled at his hand in the shower of the hotel room, remembering the feel of the brunette's magnificent ass and the look of pure rage from her master. Both were extremely satisfying in their own ways.

Naruto sighed and turned off the shower, climbing out and drying himself off before looking at his reflection in the mirror over the sink, _'We're getting closer, Naruto. Almost have the bastard in our grasp..'_

A knock at the door broke him from his thoughts, and he briefly entertained the thought that Shizune might have come on a "booty call". Wrapping a towel around his waist, he crossed the room and swung open the door.

Saro Kuni stood in the hallway, and Naruto frowned childishly, "Not who you were expecting, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto shook his head and moved out of the doorway, beckoning the information broker inside, "Maybe if you were female and had a nice ass."

Saro chuckled and glanced around the room, before turning back to him, "I was just coming to see that you were settled in. Also, I was given a note from one of the gambler's assistants; it is addressed to you, so I figured you must've made a good impression."

Naruto smiled and nodded as he took the note from the man, "Mmm, yes. She is a beauty. I figure that blonde lady keeps her on a tight leash, otherwise I doubt she would've been so receptive to my..charm. Thanks for the note."

Saro laughed deeply, "No problem! Glad you are enjoying the local wildlife!"

Naruto chuckled and began opening the note, "Any news on the information I asked for?"

The other man shook his head and made his way over to the door, "Nope, but I'll keep you posted. Have a good night, Naruto."

"You too," he answered, watching Saro leave the room and shut the door behind him.

He smiled as he opened the note and began reading the girl's elegant handwriting, _'Intelligent too? Jackpot! Ding ding ding!'_

_**Naruto,**_

_**I couldn't help but feel that we shared some sort of connection. If you want to see me, be at Lu's Kitchen at 7pm. I will be waiting.**_

_**Shizune**_

He grinned and tossed the note into the trash, already memorizing the girl's words. He laughed when he thought about their supposed "connection". Girls all lied to themselves, and he had no doubt that their "connection" had really just been a burning lust that threatened to wet her panties if she didn't relieve it.

Naruto waited until a few minutes before 7 to leave the hotel, leaving his sword under the bed. He figured something bad could happen, but didn't want to attract attention to himself or his date, and thus left his weapon behind. Not one to be completely unarmed however, Naruto still kept a knife in his boot and one under his arm guard.

After asking for directions; it didn't take him very long to find the restaurant mentioned in Shizune's note. It was a large place with seemingly no end of customers and waiters floating around inside. Naruto sighed and tossed his cigarette away, running a hand through his spiky hair. Social gatherings and big crowds weren't really his thing. Not that he had a problem with people, it was just the controlled confusion that they presented; a herd mentality with no individualism. His doubts were erased however when he caught sight of his date. Shizune was wearing a simple, black silk kimono that clung to her curves in all the right ways. He watched as she scanned the crowd with anxious eyes, trying to pick him out from the different faces entering the building.

Naruto chuckled and stepped out into the open street, "Oi! Shizune!"

The girl twirled on her toes and caught sight of him, and a smile lit up her pretty face, "Naruto! You..you came!"

He nodded and began pushing through the crowd towards her, earning a few disgruntled scowls, but nothing more. People knew when not to pick a fight, and the imposing blonde warrior was not someone to get testy with.

Naruto finally made his way through the sea of bodies and reached Shizune at the entrance to the building, "I couldn't pass up the chance to see such a beauty again, now could I?"

Shizune blushed and did a small twirl for him, "How do I look?"

Naruto let his eyes roam over her body, then whistled and waggled his eyebrows, "You are..gorgeous. I suddenly feel underdressed."

The girl giggled and winked at him, before taking his arm and leading him into the restaurant, "Don't worry, handsome, the warrior clothes look good on you. Let's eat!"

He smiled and let the girl lead him inside. After a short talk in the waiting room, the hostess came and took them to their table. Shizune let go of his arm and he pulled out her chair for her before taking his own seat across from her.

Shizune smiled at him and batted her eyelashes sarcastically, "Oooh! How romantic! The tough guy is chivalrous after all!"

Naruto grinned and waved her joke off, "Bah. It's not chivalry; I just know what women want."

Shizune giggled and bit her lip, looking into his eyes for the first time, "You do, huh? Tell me, what do I want?"

Naruto sighed and unfolded his napkin, placing it on his lap, "You want to get laid...badly."

Shizune's face lit up and she tried to reach over and cover up his mouth, only managing to knock her drink onto the floor, "Shhh!! Naruto! Oh my!"

Naruto chuckled and helped the waitress when she came to clean the spilled drink off the floor, before turning back to his date, "You know it. I know it. Even your master knows it."

Shizune buried her face in her hands, but couldn't completely hide her massive blush, "..how? I am not usually like that.."

Naruto smiled and reached over the table, taking one of her hands in his own, "I don't mind when an attractive young lady wants to get physical; I appreciate the forwardness."

The girl simply giggled and kept one hand over her eyes, exhaling loudly in embarrassment. Naruto chuckled and began stroking the girl's soft fingers with his own, rough ones. He smiled when goose bumps showed on her skin from the gentle strokes; she was obviously enjoying the contact. After a few minutes she lowered her hand from her face and looked into his eyes, "You are _too_ perfect."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously, "What do you mean? I am _far_ from perfect."

Shizune gave him a knowing look, before reaching across the table and using both of her tiny hands to hold his larger one, "That doesn't matter to me. You could be a murder, and you would still be perfect. There is something in your eyes, something in the way you move; it is irresistible. I suppose you can't see it, but I can, and I'm sure any other woman could. You ooze romance like tree sap."

Naruto chuckled, "So I am like a sticky tree? Nice.."

Shizune giggled and shook her head, bringing his hand to her cheek and resting her head against his palm, "It's like you give off this aura that says you are a loving and good guy, mixed with a hint of mischief and danger. It's like you could always be trusted to love and protect any woman that finds a place in your heart."

Naruto felt a lump form in his throat at the girl's deep words, and he exhaled shakily, "Wow. I had no idea that I had such an "aura" about me. That doesn't make sense though; I've only been in one serious relationship my entire life."

Shizune closed her eyes and nuzzled her cheek against his hand, "I can't explain it, but women just know when a guy is trustworthy. Women can tell when they are safe with a man; call it instinct. You are one of those guys, a guy that would put his life on the line for a girl and give her the world. Its..intoxicating."

Naruto nodded and smiled at the girl nuzzling his hand, appreciating the feel of her warm skin against his palm, "Well, I do have a tendency to go out of my way for women."

The girl didn't reply and he caught himself thinking of what she had said, '_It's so true. I killed over thirty men in revenge for my fiancé. I stayed 3 nights in jail to watch over Sakura. Hell, I even promised my service to Miko, should she need me.'_

His thoughts were broken however, as the waitress came to take their order, smiling at Shizune, who was still cuddling his hand like a kitten.

Naruto took his hand back and when his date started to complain, he nodded towards the waitress and Shizune's face lit up in embarrassment, "Oh! I'm sorry; you haven't been there long have you?"

The waitress shook her head and winked at Shizune, "I just got here, but I can come back later, if you'd like?"

Shizune shook her head and quickly gave her order, ordering for Naruto as well, "We'll have the duck. I apologize again; I got a little carried away in my cuddling."

The waitress smiled and waved off the apology, "Girl..with a man like that; I wouldn't even need to eat. He is delicious enough for _two_ servings."

Shizune and the waitress both turned to look at him, licking their lips hungrily. It made Naruto a little uncomfortable, and he suddenly felt the need for a smoke.

The uncomfortable silence was broken however, as a shriek rang out from the entrance of the restaurant, attracting the attention of half the room.

"You pervert!" a lady shrieked, running away from door.

Naruto watched curiously as a man with long, spiky white hair waltzed into the room, grinning widely and flexing his hand. He was more surprised however, as a certain busty blonde followed in his wake, covering her face with one hand, obviously deeply embarrassed by the strange man's antics.

Tsunade and Jiraiya, legendary Sannin of Konohakagure, were having dinner at Lu's Kitchen.

* * *

Thanks to Diablo's Heir, my beta-reader, I decided to release this chapter ahead of time. Enjoy.


	5. Chapter 4

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 4_

Naruto watched the strange pair make their way to a table in the back of the restaurant and couldn't help but chuckle at Tsunade's partner. The white haired man had just received a jaw-shattering slap from the waitress; apparently the perverted old coot thought there was something fascinating about the girl's precariously short skirt and didn't hesitate to inspect it…with lecherous hands.

Naruto turned back to his date as she dropped her head onto the table, "What's up?"

Shizune groaned and banged her head against the table again, "Why did she have to show up here? And to show up with _him_ of all people.."

Deciding to find out more about the strange man; Naruto stood to his feet and motioned over their waitress, "We will be joining the newcomers for dinner. Bring our food to their table will ya?"

The waitress nodded her head, clearly understanding which "newcomers" he was talking about. Shizune's head shot up from the table and a look of pure terror entered her pretty eyes, "Oh god, no! Naruto sit down!"

Smiling like a naughty child, Naruto snatched the brunette by the arm and began dragging her towards Tsunade's table, "C'mon..It'll be fun."

Shizune dug her heels into the polished, wood floors, but couldn't stop Naruto from tugging her across the room towards her doom, "Noooo! P-please! Naruto.."

After a few seconds she gave up and slumped over like a prisoner accepting her execution, letting Naruto guide her through the restaurant towards the odd couple's table. Naruto's "devil may care" smirk began to grow as he neared the busty blonde and the perverted white-haired man; he was going to enjoy himself tonight.

Tsunade glanced around the room embarrassedly, managing to pass over Naruto once before realizing who he was; her eyes bulged and she tried in vain to duck under the table. The man next to her quirked an eyebrow and made a joke Naruto couldn't hear. Whatever the joke was, it caused Tsunade to shoot back up from under the table, her face a bright shade of red.

Naruto reached the table and plopped Shizune down in a seat next to her master, while he took a seat next to the white-haired man, "Well! What a coincidence! Tsunade-hime..you are looking absolutely ravishing this evening!"

The white-haired man to his left looked between him and Tsunade before breaking out in a deep, rumbling chuckle, "Ho ho ho! Lookit' that Tsunade, another young suitor seeking sanctuary in your legendary twin melons!"

Both Tsunade and Shizune's heads hit the table in unison and Naruto couldn't help but laugh; he was already taking a liking to the strange man. The waitress came later and served them their meals, avoiding both Naruto and the white haired man as she set their plates before them, "Enjoy."

The white haired man leered at the young waitress' backside as she retreated and whispered in Naruto's direction, "Enjoy the _view_ that is.."

Naruto smirked and nodded, taking a bite of the duck Shizune had ordered for him. He had to admit the taste was exquisite; he had figured Shizune would have the best idea of what to order, and his faith was well-placed.

After the group had eaten most of their meals and Tsunade had a few bottles of sake in her, the conversation loosened up and the awkward atmosphere lightened considerably.

"So, what brings you here, _yakuza_? Don't tell me you are still trying to get at my attendant?" Tsunade mumbled, the heat in her face showing how drunk she was getting.

Naruto chuckled and winked at Shizune, "Eh. If Shizune wants it, I'll be glad to give it to her."

Shizune's face went pure scarlet and Tsunade choked on her sake, while the white haired man snorted and slapped Naruto on the back, "Bwahaha! You got balls, kid! I like you!"

Naruto smiled stupidly back at him, "I like you too!"

The man shook his head and grinned widely, "Noo! I like you more! Name's Jiraiya, Super-Pervert and Legendary Sann-"

The older man didn't finish his sentence however, as Tsunade's hand was firmly clamped over his mouth, and a fierce look blazed in her eyes, "That's quite enough."

Jiraiya sighed through the woman's hand and scratched the back of his head, "Sheaf wight. Sfowwy man.."

Naruto chuckled and shook his head, "No biggie; we've all got secrets. However, you wouldn't happen to be the author of _Icha Icha Paradise_, would you?"

Jiraiya nodded vigorously and slapped Tsunade's hand away from his mouth, earning a scowl from the woman as she focused back on her drinking. Naruto watched the interaction and noticed that even though the blonde woman was appearing to drink carelessly, she was watching Jiraiya for another slip. He made a note to find out just what the white haired man was going to say, whether it came from Jiraiya, Shizune, or any other source.

The night rolled by as the two men talked about Jiraiya's finer tastes in "literature" and Shizune attended to her master's drinking. Naruto had to admit the older man was quite entertaining and despite his lecherous attitude; Jiraiya was a truly brilliant man.

Tsunade decided to butt in on the two men's conversation by clearing her throat loudly, "Well it has been fun, _yakuza_, but Jiraiya and I have business to attend to."

Jiraiya chuckled and winked at him, waggling his eyebrows comically, "Yes, ahem! _Business_. Important. See you around, Naruto."

Tsunade growled and clumsily got up from the table, looking between Naruto and Shizune with a scowl, "Shizune lets go. I want to get out of here early tomorrow and I don't want to have to come find you.."

Shizune got to her feet, grabbing Naruto's hand and pulling him up out of his seat as well, "With the amount you've drank tonight; you won't be going anywhere anytime before lunch. I'll let you and Jiraiya-sama have some alone time."

Tsunade scowled and stood still, obviously at odds about what to do with her defiant attendant. Shizune scowled right back and pulled Naruto to her, attaching herself to his side and gripping his kimono tightly. Naruto watched the exchange between the two females and couldn't help but smirk at his date; the brunette obviously wanted some release from her master, and wasn't about to let him leave without her.

Jiraiya broke the tension by throwing a lazy arm over the blonde woman's shoulders, winking at Naruto in the process, "We need to split these little firecrackers up before they hurt each other, eh Naruto? Silly females need some _relief_ if you ask me.. hee hee!"

Naruto smirked and threw his own arm around Shizune's shoulders, nodding his head in agreement, "Damn straight."

Both of the women blushed and looked at the two men as if they had lost their minds. Shizune opted to hold on to Naruto a little tighter, while Tsunade pulled away from Jiraiya before sending him across the room and out the door with one punch to the back of the man's spiky haired skull. Naruto's jaw went slack at the amazing display of strength from the busty blonde; he made up his mind right there to not anger the woman any further.

Tsunade turned back to him and Shizune, "I'll be expecting her in the morning, _yakuza_. Shizune? I will be having a talk with you when we leave this city.."

Both he and Shizune nodded and followed the blonde woman out the doors, ignoring the curious glances from the restaurants' remaining patrons. Once they were outside, Tsunade hauled Jiraiya up off the floor and marched away, leaving him and Shizune at the restaurant entrance.

Once the odd couple was out of sight; Naruto let out a breath and took off towards his own hotel, Shizune still hanging onto him, "Wow. She is like crazy strong."

The young woman at his side shook her head and leaned against him as they walked, "Yeah she is, but.."

Naruto took back his arm and took out a cigarette, lighting it and releasing Shizune in the process, "But what? I've seen some really buff guys that couldn't hit like that. That was just..unnatural."

Shizune rubbed her arms and walked beside him with her head down, "I really shouldn't say anything. Let's just forget about them?"

Naruto shrugged and pulled the girl back up against him, grateful for the warmth she provided; the wind was quite chilly during the night. He felt the girl sigh and wrap a slender arm around his waist, apparently affected by the cold as well.

Shizune squeezed him a little and giggled, "I had fun though."

Naruto smirked and took one last drag on his cigarette before tossing it aside and blowing a small cloud of smoke into the night air, "Yeah, it was pretty fun, I'll admit."

Shizune nodded her head and for the rest of the way they walked in silence, enjoying each other's warmth and the beauty of the moonlit night.

They soon reached Naruto's hotel and stopped at the entrance. Shizune let go of Naruto and looked up at him, a blush staining her pale cheeks, "Well.."

Naruto chuckled and quickly swept the brunette off of her feet, earning a surprised squeak from the girl as she fell into his arms. Once Shizune was situated; Naruto looked down at her and winked, "Whatever. Don't _well_ me.."

Tossing the girl over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing; Naruto sprinted up the stairs and through the doors, ignoring the girl's giggles and mock cries for help.

* * *

Jiraiya rubbed the bump on the back of his head and followed Tsunade to her hotel room. A few flights of stairs and one unlocked door later and they were sitting across from each other on the room's balcony.

Tsunade spoke first, handing Jiraiya a small glass of sake while pouring herself one as well, "Now, down to business. The Sandaime wants me to do what?"

Jiraiya accepted the drink and fixed his partner with a serious gaze, "Things are happening, Tsunade. Things that the old geezer doesn't think he has the strength to handle. He wants you to come back.."

The blonde woman scowled and drained her glass, choking down the liquor, "Bullshit. He knows I won't return to that village. He has plenty of capable men to handle his dirty work."

Jiraiya nodded slowly and sighed, "He figured you would say something along those lines, but.."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her partner's reluctance, "But…what? Give me one good reason."

Jiraiya's features hardened and his voice lowered, "Tsunade. _They_ are on the move now. _He_ is out in the open again.."

The glass in the blonde's hand shattered, cutting into her hand and spilling sake, glass, and blood all over the table between her and Jiraiya.

* * *

Naruto hated the morning.

Cursing the bright light peering through the ruined window blinds, Naruto rolled over in bed, immediately bumping into something warm. Still groggy, he sent an inquisitive hand towards the object and smiled when his hand brushed across soft skin. Cracking open an eye, Naruto caught sight of Shizune lying beside him; her naked form was barely covered by the blanket they shared, and it left much of her back exposed for him to see. Smirking mischievously, Naruto rolled over till he was face to face with the gorgeous female. Her slow, warm breath against his face made his hair stand on end, and he almost chuckled with delight. Sighing in recollection, he ran a gentle hand along the girl's back, admiring her curves as his hand traveled lower.

Reaching her lower back he took hold of the blanket and brought it up to her shoulder blades, tucking it under her sides to keep her warm. Once he was satisfied that the girl was protected from the chilly, morning air; Naruto leaned back and watched her sleep peacefully. It didn't last long however, because as soon as Naruto leaned away from Shizune, one slender arm snaked out from under her, and wrapped itself around his neck.

Shizune cracked open an eye and smiled sleepily at him, "Where do you think you are going?"

Naruto smiled and let Shizune pull him back to her, "To find breakfast?"

Shizune giggled and used her free hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes, "Bullshit."

Chuckling at the usually shy girl's language; Naruto moved in closer and captured her soft lips with his own, lengthening the kiss for a bit before pulling away with her bottom lip between his teeth. He pulled her lip a little before gently releasing it, then growled playfully and rolled onto his back.

He chuckled as the girl growled back at him and then rolled over till she was straddling him. The blanket had fallen off in the process and a very naked Shizune sat atop him, the heat evident in her red cheeks. Smirking seductively, Shizune leaned down till her breasts pushed against his chest, exciting his nerves as he felt the girl's erect nipples push against his skin. Sighing loudly as if frustrated, Naruto put his arms around the girl and rolled off the bed sending them both careening to the floor. Shizune shrieked in surprise and he chuckled deeply as they landed in a tangled heap of naked flesh and white bed sheets.

After a few playful moments of wrestling and laughing; Shizune came out on top, holding one arm up in victory while pinning Naruto's arms above his head with her free hand, "Ha! I win!"

Naruto pouted childishly as he let the girl have her victory, "I would've won if you weren't so masculine!"

Shizune grinned seductively and swiveled her hips around as she straddled him, "Masculine huh? That's not what you said last night.."

He smiled as she bent over and kissed him, forcing her tongue through his lips. As their tongues battled each other, Shizune let out a small moan and Naruto's memories were brought back to the night before.

Last night had been a crazy marathon of sex and alcohol; Naruto of course had been the main drinker. After drinking themselves silly, clothes had been flung across the room and two naked bodies met in a violent clash. Naruto smiled as he remembered how forceful Shizune had been while riding him like a show pony. He had first thought it had been because of the pent up aggression she had towards her master, but he was wrong. The unassuming, quiet brunette was a sex goddess.

So, as they banged against the walls and pleasured each other on every surface in the now destroyed hotel room; Naruto had come to the conclusion that Shizune was a lot less innocent than he had imagined.

The girl had put them into positions he had never thought physically possible, amazing him at how limber and flexible the she was. He would've guessed she was a gymnast or performer of some type with the angles that she offered herself to him. Not only was she limber, but energetic beyond belief! Naruto still couldn't believe how many rounds of crazy sex they had; even after he was spent, she still moaned and begged for more. Luckily the alcohol had taken its toll by the eighth round, and Shizune finally fell asleep in his arms.

He was quickly shook from his thoughts when Shizune began stroking his manhood.

Naruto shuddered and pulled the girl's hand away from his crotch, "Whoa little lady! Let's c-cool down, eh?"

Shizune pouted and folded her arms over her ample breasts, "Hmph! You didn't complain about that last night either.."

Naruto chuckled and grinned up at her, "Yea well, unlike sex goddesses, mere mortals such as I need food and sustenance to keep going at it. Alright?"

The brunette pouted a little, but soon brightened up as she untangled herself from Naruto and got to her feet. She kicked him playfully in the side as he lay on the floor, and then walked into the bathroom, swaying her hips as she went, "In that case; I'm going to take a shower. You get the breakfast."

Naruto waved her off and got to his feet, searching the room a few minutes before finding his boxers hanging from the ceiling fan.

After he was adequately dressed, and had gathered Shizune's clothing for her; Naruto headed out of the room and made his way down to the lobby. Upon reaching the lobby, he ordered some food from the hotel's chef and then went to the front desk.

The hostess noticed him coming and adorned a smile much too big for his liking, "Ah, Naruto-san! Where is the young lady you had with you? Hmm?"

Naruto huffed and waved the question away, "Asleep. Have there been any messages left for me?"

The young lady nodded and went into the back, returning a few seconds later with a yellow envelope, "This just came in for you. Is there anything else?"

Naruto didn't bother answering as he took the package and made his way back to the stairs; His focus so centered on the package that he didn't notice two figures approaching from behind him. However, he did notice the hand that clapped onto his shoulder, and he almost instinctively elbowed the person behind him.

"Yo! How'd it go, young man!?" a cheerful voice boomed in his ear.

Naruto winced and turned around, only to come face to face with Jiraiya. His shock was replaced with dread however, as he glanced over the older man's shoulder and spied Tsunade.

He smiled disarmingly and waved at the blonde woman, "Yo. Good morning, Tsunade-hime."

Tsunade kept her face passive, but Naruto could sense the anger in her clipped tone of voice as she spoke, "What is good about it? Where is my attendant, _yakuza_?"

No more words were exchanged as he led them to his room, unlocking the door and stepping back as Tsunade swept into the room, Jiraiya following close behind.

Naruto followed them and scratched his neck distractedly as he waved around the room, "Shizune's in the shower. Can I get you something to drink or eat?"

Jiraiya glanced over the room like an excited child, and then picked something up off the floor. Naruto looked at him curiously as the old man turned around slowly, Shizune's panties dangling from his finger, "I think I have found the scene of the crime! Bwahaha!"

Tsunade bellowed in rage and snatched the pink garment from her partner, stuffing the panties in her pocket and point an accusing finger in Naruto's direction, "What the hell, _yakuza_!? Have you no sense of restraint!? It looks like a damn herd of buffalo were mating in here!"

Jiraiya couldn't handle it anymore and fell to the ground in a fit of giggles, "Oohhooo! Hahahaha!"

Naruto shrugged and lit a cigarette, "It wasn't all me, Tsunade. That assistant of yours…Wow."

Just as Tsunade was going to reply, the bathroom door opened and Shizune stepped out of a cloud of steam. The girl was completely naked and oblivious to the newcomers as she flew to Naruto and wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn't move as Shizune licked a long line up his neck and nibbled at his throat playfully, all while pressing her wet, naked body against him.

Shizune then took the cigarette from his lips and took a long drag on it, winking up at him as he stared at her in disbelief, "I missed you.."

Jiraiya squealed like a schoolgirl, breaking the silence and causing Shizune to shriek as she scrambled to hide behind Naruto. Tsunade didn't move, and he couldn't help but wonder if her head would explode as it became increasingly red.

Shizune clung to Naruto like a frightened kitten and whimpered in embarrassment, "Tsunade-sama! Jiraiya-sama! W-what are you d-doing here!? Naruto why didn't you t-tell me!?"

Tsunade found her voice first and a powerful voice it was, "SHIZUNE! What in Kami's name are you doing, child!?

* * *

The hotel waiter outside Naruto's room stood still in indecision. He heard the voices from inside: one voice bellowing in rage, one giggling in delight, the other two trying to defend themselves.

He had done his job and brought the food to the room, couldn't he leave now? After hearing another long winded bellow from inside the room his mind was made up, _'Screw this. I am so not getting killed for this job.'_

Leaving the tray of food at the foot of the door, the man turned and began walking back down the hall. His paced quickened a little as a loud crashing noise sounded from inside.

* * *

Naruto sighed and looked at the obliterated screen door leading to the balcony, "Are you finished yet? I don't intend to pay for that.."

Tsunade took a few deep breaths and sat in one of the chairs adorning the wrecked room, "Y-yes, I think so."

Shizune stayed behind Naruto and hastily slipped on her clothes, while he held up a blanket for her privacy. Jiraiya pouted at that, but brightened up when Naruto accidently dropped one side of the blanket as he put out his cigarette.

Shizune finally finished dressing and took the blanket from Naruto, folding it and tossing it on the bed, "That was a little awkward.."

Everyone besides Jiraiya nodded and sighed almost unanimously, "Yeah.."

Shizune looked around the room and frowned, a little red entering her cheeks as her eyes searched the room, "I could've swore they were right here.."

Tsunade huffed and pulled Shizune's missing panties from her pocket, "Looking for this?"

Shizune's blush lit up even more and she quickly snatched the garment from her master, "T-thank you, Tsunade-sama."

Naruto chuckled and clapped his hands, "Alright. Well, I would ask you to stay for breakfast, but I'm sure you probably want to get out of town, eh?"

Tsunade nodded and got to her feet, pulling Jiraiya towards the door with her, "Yes. We will part ways here, _yakuza_. Let us hope we don't meet again."

Once the two reached the door, Tsunade opened it and shoved Jiraiya into the hall before turning back to Shizune, "We will wait in the lobby. Make it quick, Shizune."

Without another word, the blonde woman exited the room and slammed the door, leaving Naruto and the brunette alone. He cast a glance over at Shizune and smiled as she looked around the room nervously, the wild attitude she had from before completely gone.

Naruto sighed and raised a curious eyebrow at the girl, "I had fun last night, Shizune-chan."

Shizune giggled and walked up to him, wrapping her slender arms around his waist, "I know you did. I had fun too, Naruto."

After a few seconds they let each other go; Shizune headed towards the door, opening it and pausing in the doorway, "Guess this is goodbye, _yakuza_. Thank you."

Naruto chuckled and waved her off lazily, "Yea yea, let's not make it sentimental or anything, attendant-_san_. Take care of yourself."

Shizune didn't reply as she left the room, swaying her hips seductively as she left his line of sight.

Once she was gone, Naruto let out a tired yawn and retrieved his breakfast from the hall, setting it and the yellow envelope from earlier on the coffee table, _'Wow..what a firecracker. She is going to make some lucky bastard even luckier some day, I swear..'_

* * *

A few hours had passed since she had last seen Naruto, but Shizune couldn't help but smile to herself as she followed her master and Jiraiya out the city's front gates.

Taking one last glance back towards the city, she sighed longingly and let a content smile settle on her features, _'What an..amazing man. Some lucky girl is going to rope that one and be in for the ride of her life, I swear..'_

* * *

Naruto finished his breakfast and pushed the tray aside, looking at the yellow envelope warily. He wasn't sure what was inside, but he could guess that Saro Kuni had finally dredged up the information he was seeking.

He opened the envelope and pulled out a small stack of papers with a small note attached to them.

_**Naruto,**_

_**This is all the information I could find on your red-eyed friend. I asked my informant about any other possible sources, but he said there weren't likely any others than these fellows.**_

_**I'll save you the time of reading all the stuff, but I included those papers just in case you want to confirm what I have found out.**_

_**There is reportedly a clan within Konohakagure that have an ability that grants them blood red eyes, also known as the Sharingan. The Uchiha clan is supposedly the only clan with such ability and it shows up in their male members around puberty. The ability is supposedly one of the most powerful bloodline-limits in the ninja world, but I couldn't find out exactly what it does. There were other reports of a massacre within their clan a decade or so ago, but my informant says there was supposedly survivors.**_

_**Sorry I couldn't help you more, but hopefully this will help your search. I might suggest going to Konoha to find the truth for yourself. Take care of yourself, Naruto.**_

_**P.S (Don't worry about paying for the room, my men will take care of it.)**_

_**Saro Kuni**_

Naruto smirked to himself and put the papers back in the envelope, _'I've found you..'_

He gathered his things, strapped on his sword, and headed out the door. He had found the assassin's trail once again…

* * *

**~~Author's Note~~**

If anyone is confused as to why **Naruto** hooked up with **Shizune** and shared a one-nighter with her - don't be.

**Naruto** is a man and as the story states earlier, a frequent womanizer. Why sleep on your own, when you could seduce a horny, brunette to sleep with you? Exactly, there isn't a reason not to.

Is she **Naruto**'s main love interest in this story, though? I think not. There will be _many_ women that interact with **Naruto** over the course of the story, some of them in romantic ways, others not.


	6. Chapter 5

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 5_

Naruto took a draw on his cigarette and glanced down the road from his spot under a shady oak tree parallel to the road. The sun beat down on the road mercilessly, effectively chasing away the cool morning fog that the blonde had enjoyed mere minutes earlier.

He had left the city early in the morning and until the sun had come out; the trip had been pleasant.

"Too damn hot," he murmured to himself, finishing his cigarette.

Sighing loudly, Naruto ground his cigarette into the dirt and hauled himself back onto his feet. Removing the outer part of his kimono and slinging it over his shoulder; Naruto stepped out from under the shade and continued his trek down the road.

As he walked down the path, Naruto reflected on his destination. In truth, the blonde had no real idea of just how he was going to find a "hidden" village, but instead of pondering his dilemma, had opted to just head further south and trust fate to lead his feet. However, the further from the city he got, the more road conditions worsened and he began seeing fewer travelers.

About another two hours down the road, Naruto came across a roadside tavern. The establishment was simple, boasting a covered eating area with tables and a small building to serve as a kitchen. There were various similar rest places throughout the countryside, but Naruto couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive as he approached the establishment.

'_Why would anyone have a restaurant on such a rural road?'_ he pondered to himself.

As he stepped under the covered area, Naruto set himself at one of the tables and glanced around the empty area. There were two other customers that relaxed at one of the tables against the wall; both men wore large straw hats and whispered quietly over their drinks. They glanced at him as he entered, but soon lost interest and turned back to their hushed conversation.

Naruto didn't have to wait long before an elderly man came out of the building and shuffled over to his table.

"Well hello weary traveler! What can I get you?" the old man chirped in a cheery tone.

Naruto wiped sweat from his brow and looked the man over, "Something cold."

"Anything else? Maybe some food to replenish your strength?"

"No, Just the drink is all."

The old man nodded and hobbled back to the building, mumbling something under his breath. Naruto snorted and shook his head; he wasn't really in the mood to eat. The heat was giving him a headache and the uncomfortable feeling coming from the rest stop made him want to just leave and continue on his way. He ran his tongue around his parched mouth and decided it probably wouldn't be a good idea to continue traveling without getting some liquids and cooling himself off.

The old man returned a few minutes later and set a large mug in front of Naruto, before sidling over to the other side of the table and seating himself across from the blonde.

"So, young man, where might you be heading? This place is a bit far from civilization if I must say so myself," The old man queried, giving Naruto a weary grin.

Naruto took a deep drink from the mug and sighed as the cool liquid saturated his parched throat, "Ah, yes. That hits the spot.."

The old man cackled and slapped a gnarled hand on the table, "Hee heee! It is a scorcher out there, eh?"

"Yes, it is much too hot. As to my destination; I am just headed south is all," Naruto divulged, taking another swig from the cup.

"South? There isn't much to the south of here, son. Any place in particular?"

Naruto set his now empty mug on the table and looked up at the old man, "Why would you care?"

The old man frowned and held his hand up in the air; Naruto tensed, expecting some sort of attack. The man snapped his fingers and the two men in the corner stood up and came up to stand behind him, their straw hats concealing their features.

"So, that is how it is, huh?" Naruto drawled, sighing tiredly.

The old man shook his head and brought his hand down to rest on the table, "A traveler this far to the south could only be headed to two places. The port town to the south-east or..another, more clandestine location. Tell us, traveler, are you planning on seeing the sea?"

Naruto chuckled and leaned back in his chair, looking between the old man and his subordinates, "And what if I'm not looking for water? You three will kill me? _Konoha_ dogs.."

"Hee hee! Traveler, you shouldn't be so cocky in the current situation. We are merely keeping undesirables from going somewhere they shouldn't," the old man cackled, his eyes squinting in mirth.

"And why would I be an _undesirable_? Thats pretty rude, old man," Naruto asked, tapping the sword hilt behind his back.

The old man chuckled and tapped his nose, "Don't play stupid. You are _yakuza_. I can smell bad eggs from a mile away and you are a bad egg. I am never wrong."

"Is that so?" Naruto asked looking bored, "Regardless, your thugs won't be getting in my way."

Without warning, Naruto kicked backwards against the table, knocking it into the three men across from him while propelling him over backwards. He swiftly rolled backwards out of the chair and up on to his feet, drawing his sword in the blink of an eye.

The three men didn't expect such a reaction and were caught off guard; the old man crashing to the floor, while the other two men stumbled back. The surprise didn't last long however, as the old man got to his feet and his men tore off their hats.

Naruto smirked when both men were revealed to be wearing headbands, the _Konoha_ leaf symbol emblazoned on a shiny metal bar sewn into the cloth.

"Mmm. That is why I had a funky feeling about this place. It seems I am going in the right direction after all," Naruto stated, pointing at one of the men's forehead.

The old man scowled and stepped behind his men, putting a little distance between himself and Naruto, "You will not be leaving this place, _yakuza_. You are a confirmed threat to the village and will be dealt with."

Naruto snorted pointed his sword at his opponents, "You talk a lot."

Within milliseconds one of the ninja produced a handful of needles from within his clothing and flung them expertly in the blonde's direction. The thin, steel points whistled as they shot through the air too fast for the eye to see, but just as they were about to hit their target, Naruto slashed at the needles, knocking the projectiles aside into a nearby table, where they stuck and quivered angrily.

The two men hesitated a little bit at that, perplexed at the speed Naruto had reacted to the flying weapons.

"What's wrong, boys? Not used to having your toys deflected like that?" Naruto teased, beckoning the two shinobi with one hand.

Both men charged across the room at him, leaping over tables and chairs to get at the blonde. The first man drew a short knife and swung viciously at Naruto, bringing the short blade in a downward arc. Naruto deflected the attack and kicked the ninja in the chest, sending the man careening over one of the tables.

Another handful of projectiles whistled through the air towards him and Naruto had to duck and roll to avoid the missiles, barely avoiding them as they impacted into the dirt floor where he had been standing. Jumping to his feet, Naruto sprinted across the room and leapt outside as another handful of needles flew past him.

By that time the first ninja had gotten back to his feet and both men followed him outside, with the old man shouting from behind them, "Get him! Hurry!"

Naruto backed out into the open road, smirking roguishly at the two ninjas, "So boys, since you are both going to die here; you want to tell me the names of the men I'm about to kill?"

Neither of the men replied, instead opting to circle the blonde swordsman like sharks around a small boat, just waiting for a chance to strike. The needle thrower was the first to act, producing two needles in his hand and rushing at Naruto, intending to use the needles as a crude claw.

Naruto intercepted the needle-using ninja halfway, pushing a little chakra into his legs before leaping into the air and twisting mid-air so he came down behind the ninja.

Bringing his sword down and around in a crossways slash, Naruto nearly cut the man in two, and were it not for the ninja's quick reflexes the attack would have done just that. The man desperately leapt away from the seeking blade at the last moment, crying out as the blade bit into the flesh of his back, avoiding a a death blow from Naruto's blade.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and watched the injured man try to staunch the blood flowing out of the jagged wound in his back, "Didn't expect me to use chakra, eh?"

He didn't have time to gloat however, as the other ninja began running through a series of hand signals. Obviously the two ninja had thought Naruto would be an easy kill, and thus didn't warrant the use of chakra techniques. The second they saw him use chakra however, the plan changed and Naruto could somehow feel energy being gathered for a jutsu.

"No you don't!" Naruto bellowed, crossing the distance between the two in an instant.

Fortunately, the ninja didn't have enough time to finish his jutsu, and barely avoided Naruto's katana as it whistled through the air towards him. The man rolled away from the attack and drew a knife in one smooth motion, getting back on his feet and turning to face the blonde swordsman.

The two men clashed in a flash of sparks, black metal ringing against purest steel as the two danced around each other, exchanging and receiving blows. Naruto was mildly impressed as he battled the knife-wielding ninja. To use a knife in combat against a long blade made the man stupid, arrogant, or insanely brave, but Naruto couldn't place which his opponent was. Shirking his thoughts, Naruto smirked as the ninja tried to sweep his feet out from under him with a low-kick. The blonde saw the kick coming however, and leapt into the air, bringing his leg around to crash into the side of his opponent's head.

The ninja crashed into the dirt, but rolled away as Naruto tried to impale him with his sword. The blonde didn't have time for another attack however, as two needles struck him in the arm. He cursed and rolled away as three more needles followed, barely missing him. Quickly pulling the projectiles from his flesh, Naruto could only hope they weren't poisoned.

Apparently the needle-thrower was back in the fight, and Naruto watched as the two men regrouped and began circling him again.

Naruto watched as the needle-thrower shuffled around him, leaving small patches of blood behind him as his wound bled freely down his leg, _'Time to finish that one off..'_

Not waiting for the two to make their move; Naruto leapt at the wounded man, but was intercepted by his partner. The ninja pushed his wounded comrade out of the way and blocked Naruto's katana with his knife, "Koji get the fuck out of the way!"

The wounded ninja, Koji, grunted in reply and fell to the ground, his wounds obviously beginning to take effect.

Naruto backed away and brought his sword to his side, earning a suspicious glance from still as-of-yet unknown ninja.

"Look after your friend; he is going to bleed to death if that cut isn't tended to quickly," Naruto drawled, glancing at the still form of Koji.

The ninja glared and brought his knife in front of him defensively, "You will attack me."

"No, I won't," Naruto answered, "I have already killed too many men this week."

The ninja went to his friend and hunched down, keeping his eyes riveted on Naruto's sword. After a few seconds he inspected his friend's wound and grimaced; the wound was, apparently, deeper than it had looked. Casting another cautious glance at Naruto, the ninja sheathed his knife and picked up his friend, tossing the unconscious man over his shoulders.

Naruto sighed and wiped his sword on his pant leg before sheathing it with a metallic click, "Before you haul him off; I need some information."

The ninja looked skeptical, but knew that he was in some form of debt to the blonde swordsman, "What is it?"

"If I follow this road," Naruto pointed down the southward leading path, "..will it take me to _Konohakagure_?"

The ninja didn't answer, but nodded quickly and took off towards the rest stop, bellowing for the old man to bring medical aid for his partner. Naruto saw the old man point at him and bellow a few obscenities at the ninja, but complied and hurried off to get whatever was needed.

Naruto headed off down the road, checking himself for wounds as he walked. He lifted up his arm and pulled back his fishnet shirt, searching for the needle wounds he had received earlier. Apart from a little caked blood, there was no sign of injury whatsoever; the wounds had completely healed over in a matter of minutes.

He frowned at the lack of wound and chalked it up as yet another unexplained thing he didn't know about his body. All his life he had never suffered any long-lasting injuries. At one time he had even broken the majority of his ribs in a bar fight, but was completely healed within a week. Boss Nakamori had hired a professional doctor to give him a full physical examination after that incident, but the doctor couldn't come up with any feasible answer. It didn't sit well with him then, and it still didn't to the day. He couldn't complain about surviving wounds that would a normal man out for months, but it was still something he didn't understand, and if there was one thing Naruto couldn't stand, it was being left in the dark.

"Fuckin' weird body of mine," Naruto mumbled to himself as he walked. It would be a few hours before he realized that he had left the top of his kimono lying on the table at the rest stop.

* * *

Back at the rest stop, Koji was finally safe from bleeding to death. His partner and the old man had patched him up quite well and he had drifted into a comfortable sleep as they watched over him.

"Saito, why did you let that _yakuza_ get away?" the old man scolded, wagging an admonishing finger at the younger man.

"Uh because he would've killed me had I tried to stop him? Besides, he won't be able to get past the village gates, much less see through the genjutsu around it," Saito answered, sighing and rubbing his neck.

"Still, we do not run this post just to let people pass by so easily."

Saito growled and pointed at the older man, "You didn't do anything! And did you not see that guy move? I swear that guy is some kind of master swordsman. I haven't seen anyone short of a samurai flow with a blade like that."

"So use a damn jutsu, knucklehead!" the old man scolded, not impressed by the young man's excuses.

"I tried! He wouldn't fuckin' let me!"

"Useless!"

"You know what? He had to have had some chakra training to jump over Koji like he did," Saito mused, looking off into space.

"Who?" a voice asked from the front of the covered dining area.

Both Saito and the old man turned around to face the newcomer, a pretty brunette in a simple black kimono. Flanking her were an older man, a busty blonde, and a pig.

It took Saito a few minutes to place the newcomers' faces but when he did, his eyes widened and he bowed respectfully, "Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama!"

Shizune smiled at the young ninja's reaction at recognizing two of the Legendary Sannin, but returned to her question, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you were saying something about a man using chakra to attack you and your friend?"

"Yes ma'am, I don't believe he was a ninja, but I am positive he used chakra to defeat my partner," Saito stammered, pointing at Koji's sleeping form.

"And you apprehended him?" Tsunade questioned, taking a seat at one of the tables.

"N-no, he defeated us and continued his journey down the road to the south."

"Towards _Konoha_?" Jiraiya asked, a suspicious look crossing his features.

Saito nodded embarrassedly and the old man got up to take Tsunade's order. Jiraiya looked between the injured ninja and Saito for a few seconds then walked over and studied Koji's sleeping form.

"Tell me exactly what happened, young man."

Saito chuckled nervously and shrugged, "Not much to tell. The old fart found out he was _yakuza_ so we attempted to apprehend him and failed. He cut open Koji, my partner's, back and then told me to help him. Then he left and I came back here and bandaged my friend up as best I could."

Tsunade ordered Shizune over to check on Koji's wounds, while Jiraiya took Saito aside, putting an arm over the younger man's shoulders and whispering so the others wouldn't hear, "Did he ask how to find the village?"

"Not exactly, sir. He asked if this road would eventually lead him there. Rather than fight and possibly let Koji die; I nodded my head and he took off without another word. Was I wrong in doing so, sir?" Saito asked, his eyes showing worry.

"No, not at all! You saved your comrade's life and survived an encounter with a master swordsman; you have nothing to be ashamed of," Jiraiya assured him, clapping Saito on the back.

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sama."

"Don't mention it. One other thing though, tell me what you know of the man; what did he look like, did he use any strange jutsu?"

Saito exhaled in relief and picked his brain for details, "Umm, he was tall, light haired, pretty well built, and wore black clothing. He had a strange, customized sword, and had this huge, black dragon tattoo across his back. The old man said that was what marked him as _yakuza_, something about ranks in gangs or something. Anyways, he didn't use any jutsu whatsoever, but I am pretty sure he used chakra when he leapt over my friend and slashed him. Other than that..I don't have anything else to tell you; he didn't give us a name or anything."

Jiraiya took in the information and painted a picture in his head, _'It couldn't be..'_

A commotion could be heard, and both men turned to see Tsunade overturn a table, while Shizune held something black in her outstretched hand.

"What is going on?" Jiraiya asked, glancing between the two women.

Shizune unfolded the black fabric and revealed it to be the top part of a kimono, "Jiraiya-sama. I would recognize this kimono anywhere.."

"Oh? I wouldn't presume that you tore this off of a handsome, young renegade last night, did you?" Jiraiya teased, earning a blush from Shizune and a scowl from Tsunade.

"It's Naruto's.." Shizune admitted, folding the fabric and putting it away in her traveling bag.

Tsunade huffed in frustration, and then snatched Shizune's arm before bolting out the door. "Let's go!"

The two women exited the building and started to make their way down the dirt path, but stopped when they realized Jiraiya wasn't with them.

"Jiraiya! Get your ass out here!" Tsunade bellowed, but stopped when her fellow Sannin exited the building in a slow shuffle, obviously deep in thought.

Jiraiya wandered over slowly and finally looked up at the two women, a broad grin plastered across his face, "We are getting old, Tsunade"

"What? How dare you call me old!" she retorted, glaring at Jiraiya.

"Oh? Then tell me how come we didn't recognize Naruto when we first met him?" he asked.

Tsunade and Shizune looked between one another and then back at the Toad sage.

"Blonde spiky hair, whisker marks, chakra that he barely knows how to use, fiery attitude, and wants to find _Konoha. _If that doesn't give it away; think about his name, Naruto, a little rare don't you think?" Jiraiya continued.

Both Sannin looked at eachother and Tsunade was the first to speak aloud, "Konoha's pariah. Minato's son. Vessel of..Kyuubi.."

Jiraiya bobbed his head, "He is the right age and fits the description to the letter!"

Tsunade didn't wait for any more words to be said; she grabbed Shizune and Jiraiya by their clothes and bolted down the road, her companions struggling to keep from being dragged in her wake.

Even Shizune knew the tale of Konoha's shame and pride; the Village Hidden in the Leaf had lost their greatest weapon and greatest curse nearly a decade ago and no one had heard from him in all that time. If her master and Jiraiya were correct about who Naruto really was, then she had, just one night ago, slept with the most dangerous being in known existence; The vessel of the Demon Lord, Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Shizune made a mental note to write about it in her diary.

* * *

Naruto was getting frustrated. Not only had he been walking for hours, but the scenery never changed; the road seemed to go on and on forever.

As he walked he started noticing various trees and landmarks that he could've sworn he had already passed. Growling under his breath, Naruto walked over to a large oak and used his boot knife to carve a large X into it. Satisfied that the symbol was big enough to be seen from the road; he began walking down the road again.

Several minutes passed and he began looking at the trees lining the path, looking for anything strange on them. After finding nothing out of place, Naruto began to scold himself for thinking up something as naïve as marking his path. However, when he rounded a corner in the road; he cast a bored glance at one of the larger trees and his breath caught in his throat.

Carved into the tree was a large X, clearly visible against the other unmarked trees. Naruto fell to his knees and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He knew that something was very wrong, but couldn't make himself believe that he had been walking in circles for such a long time.

"What the fuck!" the blonde bellowed out loud, pointing an accusing finger at the marked tree.

Naruto swung his head around and took in his surroundings: the road that never ended, the same deep forest, and the eerily, marked tree. Shaking his head and pounding his palm against his forehead, Naruto began to curse and vent his frustration into the wind. _'What is wrong with this place? I swear I've been traveling for hours!'_

The blonde continued to rant for a few minutes, before he ran out of breath and tried to calm himself. Regulating his breath, Naruto stood up and closed his eyes, extending his other senses. He felt the wind caress his face and heard the leaves on the trees rustle. He smelt the dirt path and the scents carried on the breeze. Most importantly however, Naruto could "feel" something wrong with the area, something his eyes couldn't see and his fingers couldn't touch.

Reaching out subconsciously with his chakra, he could feel the atmosphere react to the energy he put out, surrounding it and trying to absorb it. This intrigued the blonde and he poured a little more chakra outwards, somehow feeling the atmosphere absorb it and change it.

Naruto chuckled at the weird sensation; chakra was so strange to him. Asides from using it to augment his speed or jumping capability; the blonde had never experimented much with the weird energy inside him. He could feel it within him and move it around his body as he wished, but didn't really understand where it came from or what it was capable of. Of course he had heard of ninja using it to do strange "magic spells", but had never really thought of trying such a thing himself. So, as he pumped chakra out of his body and watched in amazement at the "ripple effect" it had on the area; Naruto could only marvel at the strange sensation that unfolded before him.

Whenever he released chakra from his body it would pulse and cause the strange aura around him to react to it. Time and time again, the aura would absorb the foreign energy and stop the "ripples" his chakra caused, returning the area to a calm state within a few seconds.

Smirking slyly, Naruto opened his eyes and began releasing more chakra into the air. The landscape would fade a little as his chakra was released, but after a few seconds, would absorb his chakra and returned the landscape to normal.

"Interesting.." the blonde mused to himself, grinning like a child about to do something naughty.

Closing his eyes again, Naruto began pouring releasing more and more chakra into the area, feeling the ripples increase in size while trying to resist being absorbed. Naruto, oblivious to just how much chakra he might possess, kept the chakra coming, releasing as much of the energy as he could. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, the blonde released the floodgate and pumped all the chakra he could, outwards, turning the "ripples" into a wave of chakra that splashed outwards into the surrounding area.

He opened his eyes curiously and chuckled as the landscape wobbled and shifted dangerously. Trees multiplied and divided themselves at random, then would jump from spot to spot. The road seemed to lengthen, then coil up on itself. It was if the world had gone completely and utterly mad. As the landscape began to swirl and coalesce into a blur, Naruto began laughing madly and raised a fist in the air triumphantly. "Ha! Fucking ninja mind-games won't work on me!"

Almost in response, the landscape disappeared from his vision, while a new landscape took its place. Naruto fell to his knees and continued laughing as he stopped releasing his chakra and took a look around.

The area hadn't changed much, but just a few hundred yards away stood the massive front gate and walls of _Konohakagure_, the Village Hidden in the Leaf.

" It looks like he broke the genjutsu, sir," A voice droned from behind him.

Naruto rolled away from the voice and drew his sword in one motion, jumping to his feet and spinning to face the new threat.

Arranged in a semi-circle in front of him, six figures in black body armor stood casually. Each one of them had a strange animal mask covering their face and wore identical armor, but Naruto could tell from their physiques that he was facing two females and four males. Female or not though, the blonde figured each one of the masked figures was probably dangerous and eyed them cautiously.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked, bringing his sword up in front of him.

"Shouldn't we be asking you the same question?" one of the women wearing an otter mask asked.

Naruto scowled and relaxed his shoulders a bit; he had always been one to rise to a verbal challenge just as much as a physical one, "My name is Fuck You. Nice to meet you, sweet cheeks."

A few of the men chuckled behind their masks and Otter tensed visibly, her fists tightening into balls, "You're pretty funny. Why don't you come over here and repeat that!"

Naruto lowered his sword and lit a cigarette, taking a slow drag on it and appraising the half-dozen ninja that stood before him. Smoking, as always, helped him calm himself and think rationally in situations he would otherwise rush into blindly. Against a half a dozen ninja it wouldn't do much good to fight without a plan.

He knew he wouldn't be able to escape without getting injured, but other than Otter, none of the others had shown any hostility towards him. He began to wonder if they were sizing him up before making a move. He wouldn't let himself even began to think they would let him waltz off un-molested; Naruto had never been lucky.

"No thanks, I can smell your breath from her, babycakes," Naruto deadpanned through his cigarette.

This time all four of the men chuckled, the other woman giggled quietly, and Otter went rigid. Naruto imagined the female was probably not too happy about being shown up in front of her comrades, and would probably take the first chance she got to jump him. Naruto had been in enough fights to know that there was always a hot-head that took the first punch, and it was always a good idea to take that person down first. Otter, it appeared, was his hot-head.

"Anyways, you folks going to stand around, or are we going to fight? I don't think _Konoha_ takes to kindly to unannounced visitors," Naruto drawled in a bored tone, trying to think of the best way to fight the group of ninja.

"And what a troublesome visitor you are. You don't look like shinobi to me, and yet you used wasted a massive amount of chakra to dispel that genjutsu. Tell me, who are you and why are you here?" one of the males wearing an eagle mask asked, stepping forward and eyeing him curiously.

Naruto could tell from the man's stance that he was a leader, and that suspicion was only further confirmed when Otter stepped back, her anger forgotten. He cursed inwardly when the hot-head stepped back, since it meant they would probably have some sort of group strategy rather than bum-rushing him all at once.

"Or we could arrest you and let our men find out with their own methods," Eagle added, shrugging uninterestedly.

"Am I supposed to be intimidated, Eagle-san?" Naruto asked, "Because you are doing a very poor job at being scary."

"This is a troublesome waste of my time. Take him away," Eagle ordered, turning his back on Naruto and walking towards the city.

Before Naruto could retort, one of the masked men flickered out of his view, appearing behind him in an instant. Surprised by the man's speed, Naruto couldn't dodge in time and only had time to drop his cigarette before his world went dark.

* * *

Tsunade dispelled the genjutsu that threatened to cloud her senses and wiped the beaded sweat from her brow - Konoha's gates looming before her. As she wiped the moisture on her jacket, she glanced back at her group; they were breathing just as hard as she was and Shizune looked fit to pass out. Growling in irritation, the blonde woman approached the two young shinobi that guarded the gate.

"Oi, did a blonde ruffian pass through here lately?" she asked the older looking of the two.

The man shook his head and jerked a thumb towards the village behind him, "I wouldn't know anything about blonde ruffians. We just replaced the guards from earlier."

Biting back her irritation, Tsunade adopted a fake smile and motioned for Jiraiya and Shizune to follow her, "Well, I do hope you will excuse us.."

"Once I see some identification, lady," The man droned, holding his hand towards her.

Tsunade kept her composure and Jiraiya shut his eyes, while Shizune rummaged for her own identification. The blonde woman seemed to rummage through her clothing for a moment, before reaching out and grabbing the man's wrist. With a simple squeeze, the man's wrist snapped like a dry twig and he screamed in raw agony.

"Oh god! Owww! Whhyy!?" the man bellowed, falling to the ground and clutching his injury.

"Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tonton. Free to pass? Thanks, dumbshit," Tsunade deadpanned sweetly, batting her eyelashes.

Without another word the trio headed into town, with Shizune muttering apologies as she passed. Tsunade was prone to injuring random citizens and it was usually up to Shizune to make apologies and placations in her fiery tempered, master's wake. The unfortunate guard had chosen the wrong day to forget his village's heroes, and had received a refresher course on his history.

It took a few minutes for the group to reach the large, red building that housed the political power in the shinobi village. Inside could be found countless assemblies and offices of politicians, military leaders, and other important aristocratic big shots. It was also the headquarters of the Hokage, the village's most powerful ninja and resident overlord, Sasuke Sarutobi.

Tsunade gave little thought to the legend however, and was less than tactful when she blazed through the building, bodyguards, and secretary in a haze, bursting through the thick oak door of the old man's office like a blonde hurricane. Tsunade flew at the old man sitting at the desk, who was patiently listening to one of his men deliver a report.

The old leader sighed and looked as the trio of people stopped in front of his desk, "It's nice to see you, Tsunade."

The blonde slowed her breathing and snorted, "It was a pretty dirty trick sending my old teammate like you did, but I have more pressing matters to speak with you about."

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow and rolled his pipe around in his mouth a moment before looking over at Jiraiya, who had stayed silent the whole time, "Jiraiya, Shizune, I assume your trip was alright?"

Shizune nodded politely and set Tonton on the floor, wiping the dust from her kimono self-consciously, "It was fine, Hokage-sama, but I am afraid what we have discovered is urgent."

Jiraiya nodded his agreement and sat down in one of the chairs, winking at his former master, "You might want to hold on to your seat."

"Very well; what do you have to say, Tsunade?" the old man asked, leaning back in his chair with a groan.

"A blonde came to this village earlier today; where is he?"

Sarutobi grunted and motioned for the ninja at the back of the room to come forward, "My captain was just reporting about a blonde that he had found outside the village. Shall we let him finish his report?"

Tsunade nodded and sat down in one of the two chairs in the room, while Shizune and Tonton went to stand quietly in the corner.

The ninja came forward, clad in the typical ANBU armor and animal mask, "Thank you, Hokage-sama. Where should I begin?"

Sarutobi took a pull on his pipe and blew a lazy circle into the air, "Might as well start at the beginning, Shikamaru."

The masked man stuttered at having his real name revealed, "H-hokage-sama, are you sure you should reveal such things?"

The old man chuckled and pointed at the two Sannin sitting before him, "These two are the equivalent of Hokage in this village, son. Soon you might be working for one of them, so I figure we could let them know who you are just this once."

Tsunade was getting impatient, but gritted her teeth and nodded for the ANBU to continue with the report, _'Let's get on with it!'_

Shikamaru sensed the urgency in the blonde woman's gaze and quickly gave a precise and shortened report. He told of first spying the blonde wandering aimlessly along the outerwalls, no doubt being affected by the village's genjutsu, and then of how the young man had experimented releasing chakra and watching the effects it had. Finally he came to the part where the blonde had begun releasing chakra from his body in a steady flow, enough chakra that the village's genjutsu couldnt overpower it any longer; dispelling the illusion and revealing the village to the blonde. Jiraiya asked about how much chakra the blonde released, but Shikamaru could only speculate at the amount; Jiraiya went quiet after that.

"..and that's when I had my men haul him off to the ANBU prison." he finished, shrugging at the assembled people.

Tsunade waited for the man to end before standing up and slamming her hands on the polished, hardwood desk, "We need to get him out! We need to get him out before he harbors even MORE resentment towards this place!"

Sandaime frowned and looked over at Jiraiya, "You two make it sound like I should know this _yakuza_."

Jiraiya chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, "You really are becoming senile, old man. You can't tell me you don't recognize the lad's name?"

Sarutobi frowned and started to shake his head, but stopped, his eyes widening and the pipe dropping from his lips, "This _yakuza_ is THAT Naruto?"

Tsunade smacked her forehead and groaned, "How many blonde men do you know, that are named after a ramen topping!?"

Jiraiya coughed to get everyone's attention and blushed embarrassedly, "Tsunade? We didn't recognize him until we were almost here.."

"Shut up! I know that! You can't blame me though; I wasn't around when he was a boy.." she retorted.

"True.." Jiraiya admitted.

Sarutobi groaned and waved his arms to silence the two comrades, "It seems we all have sunk so far as to have forgotten Minato's legacy, so let us not point fingers. For Naruto-kun to wander under our noses without us thinking twice about it is a sin against the Yondaime's memory in its own way.."

Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and even Tsunade went silent, each showing sadness in their own ways. Each one of the legendary ninja had some sort of connection to the late Yondaime and felt the long-repressed memory of their friend play through their minds.

Jiraiya had trained the Yondaime from a boy, not only shaping the rowdy, blonde boy into a powerful ninja, but had shared a close father/son relationship with the blonde as well. Sarutobi had been a mentor to the blonde as he grew up, and would later choose Minato as his eventual successor, forever earning himself the late blonde's affection.

Lastly, Tsunade, a woman who wasn't prone to forging connections with anyone after the death of her fiancé, Dan, had forged a strange relationship with the Yondaime. Minato, being the constantly cheerful and most importantly, considerate man that he was had constantly tried to break the blonde woman's tough outer shell. Not to say that he didn't get hurt in the process, but he never relented, and eventually earned a grudging respect and admiration from the Slug Princess.

All the older ninja were shaken from their thoughts when Shizune coughed loudly from the corner, "Naruto is still in prison, you know.."

Sarutobi nodded his head and turned to Shikimaru, who still stood in the corner, unsure of what to do with himself, "Shikamaru, release the prisoner and escort him here. We will receive him in this office."

Everyone in the room settled down to wait, and Tsunade sent Shizune off to find some refreshments, ignoring Sarutobi's offer to have his secretary go instead, "Thank you, old man, but we have other things to discuss while we wait. Things I would rather we kept between us three."

"Very well. Shizune, there is a delightful little tea shop a few blocks from here. Ask my secretary for directions on your way out," Sarutobi called out as the brunette began heading out the door.

No one noticed the Shikamaru hadn't left yet, and were a little surprised when he seemingly approached the desk from thin air.

"Shikamaru! You surely do have a way with those shadows! I thought you had left; why are you still here?" Sarutobi asked, jumping a little as the ANBU appeared from the darkening room; the sun was setting rather quickly, throwing long shadows across the office.

"I apologize, sir, but I think you should probably send medical aid to fetch the prisoner. He has been with Morino Ibiki for a good two hours now, if my guess is correct," Shikamaru whispered, fidgeting uncomfortably as he gave the information.

Sarutobi smacked his forehead and pointed a gnarled finger at the door, "You have my permission to request anyone from the hospital you want, but make it quick! Oh jeez..this couldn't get any more hectic.."

Morino Ibiki, head of _Konoha's_ Interrogation and Torture Tactics unit, was not a man to be trifled with. It was rumored that the scarred, monster of a man could make a mute man talk, and Sarutobi was inclined to believe it. The man was known for his natural talent at torture methods and information gathering, and if Naruto had been with the torture specialist for an hour, not to mention two; Sarutobi wasn't quite sure just what shape the blonde prisoner would be in when he showed up.



* * *

Did I pack this chapter with too much? What do you guys think? Shorter chapters from now on, or is this length alright?

Also, I will be adding a translation list of all the jutsu I use in my story, and will post it on my profile.

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 6

New chapter! It has been a long time in the making, but I am finally writing on this story again after many, many months!

* * *

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 6_

Naruto spat another gobbet of blood onto the floor of the dark cell he was being held in. His hands and feet were secured by chains, and he had been stripped down to his boxers, which had taken on a dark red color as they soaked up the blood that ran down his battered frame.

"Why don't you tell me who you work for? Why make both our lives this much harder?" Ibiki asked, his voice smooth yet ominous.

"Cuz' scarface, I don't work for anybody," Naruto retorted, smiling through bloody teeth and a severely swollen left eye.

The smile was lost as Ibiki planted yet another punch into the side of the blonde's face, rocking Naruto's head back.

The blonde would've fell to the floor if it weren't for the chains clamped around his wrists that hung from the ceiling.

Naruto couldn't recall exactly how long he had been in the dank prison cell, but he could recall just exactly how many times the bald man had hit him. He had decided he would be generous and pay the bastard back in kind when he got free.

"Do we really have to play these games? You aren't getting any prettier," The torturer sighed, rubbing his bloody knuckles.

"Haha! Even like this; I could get more women than you could on your best day, gramps!" Naruto replied, chuckling through the blood in his mouth.

Morino Ibiki was known to be a patient man, but today he was losing his patience. Sure, he had interrogated criminals for days on end, but in just a few hours the blonde captive had frayed what little he had in nerves, _'Little prick doesn't give an inch, even when his face is mush!'_

Naruto spat out another glob of blood and spit and the mixture splattered all over Ibiki's boot.

"Oops! Guess my aim is off with just this one eye.." he said.

A flurry of punches pounded into his chest like a butcher's hammer tenderizing meat. Naruto felt a rib break under the salvo and grimaced.

"You are a tough son of a bitch, I'll give you that. This next treatment, however, not even a well-skilled ninja master could resist the pain. You will talk; they always talk.." Ibiki threatened, walking over to a table covered with a black cloth.

Naruto eyed the man as Ibiki swept the cloth off the table, revealing a set of what looked to be clay plates. The small, flat, circles were brown and rather plain looking, but Naruto could pick out some sort of writing on them and it piqued his curiosity.

"Uh huh..and just what do you plan to do with dinner plates? Other than go fetch me some lunch that is.." he joked.

Ibiki's only reply came as a shrug.

A few seconds passed and the torturer walked over and stood in front of the blonde with one of the plates in each hand. Naruto didn't have time to study the objects very well before the bald man slapped both plates onto his bare chest, where they surprisingly stuck in place.

Naruto was becoming a little apprehensive about the strange objects, but wouldn't give his captor the satisfaction of knowing so, "Well, these things are a little cold, but otherwise I don't really feel any more inclined to talk.."

"Is that so? Guess we should turn them on then," Ibiki muttered disinterestedly.

Naruto watched as Ibiki placed one of his hands on each of the circles and closed his eyes.

Lightning hit the blonde's chest and he felt the wind drawn from his chest, at least Naruto imagined the pain he was feeling would be akin to being struck by lightning. A violent rush of electricity coursed its way through his veins, accelerating his heart and shocking his organs. The pain this caused the blonde was unlike nothing he had ever encountered. Naruto couldn't even remember dying to be quite as painful as what the plates were doing to him.

Just as the pain faded and Naruto regained his breath enough to tease his captor again, Ibiki started again.

The plates hummed and the pain throbbed through his body again; it was all Naruto could do to not scream out in agony.

When the second wave of pain had passed, Ibiki opened his eyes and removed his hands from the plates; a confident grin showed on his scarred features.

"Doom plates are what we call them around here. You can see why they get that name, cant you?"

Naruto hung limply by his wrists and dropped his head; his body had lost all the fight and rebellion he had been building up, but not his mind.

"R-really? I would've gone with something different. Like..Joy Circles? Or..Happy Fun-time Plates?" Naruto spat through ragged breaths.

Ibiki growled and the plates sent another wave of agony coursing through the blonde's body, earning himself a strangled groan from the proud yakuza.

"I don't need to touch you anymore, fool. I've poured a good amount of chakra into those plates and they will continue shocking you whenever it pleases me," Ibiki explained as he began to pace in front of his captive.

Naruto was starting to lose consciousness as his vision began to blur and he felt his body shutting down, "Y-you can't break me, old m-man. No one can b-break me.."

Ibiki was about to reply when someone started banging on the door of the cell.

"Who is it? I'm with a prisoner right now," The torturer muttered distractedly.

The banging continued and the torturer growled, looking between the door and his captive before unlatching the heavy steel door and swinging it open.

Naruto tried to get a glimpse at who had come to his cell, but his vision went dark and all he heard before he passed out was a woman's scream.

* * *

Shikamaru made his way across the rooftops of his city, urgency putting speed into his pace. He couldn't understand why the Hokage would make such a fuss over a known criminal!

His day had been going normally until two of the Sannin had showed up with news about the blonde man. He usually liked his job, but being an ANBU Squad Captain on days like this was just too troublesome.

He didn't have time to dwell on his thoughts however, as he had finally reached his destination: Konoha Hospital.

Shikamaru personally hated hospitals, but had to admit that there were few smarter minds than those that tended to the sick and wounded within the hospital's white halls. It was one of these brilliant minds that the ANBU Captain was searching for now: Haruno Sakura, gifted shinobi and one of the brightest medical minds in the country.

The young woman had been given countless invites to become a certified doctor within the hospital, but had declined every time. She had instead opted to stay with her original team of shinobi comrades, Team 7, and served as the team's field medic.

Shikamaru didn't really know why he was searching for her in particular, maybe it had to do with the fact he had been trying to get a date with her for a few months now, or maybe she was just the best for the job at hand.

He didn't really know why fate pulled him towards things, but if the pineapple-haired ANBU knew anything, it was that you could usually always follow your gut in most situations, and Shikamaru's gut told him that if anyone could control a rampaging blonde criminal enough to patch him up, it was Sakura.

The receptionist saw him coming and smiled brightly, "Captain-san! How can I help you?"

Shikamaru grinned and rested his arms on the desk, "Could you fetch Sakura Haruno for me?"

The girl pouted playfully and nodded, picking up a small microphone and pressing the activation key, "Would Sakura Haruno please come to the front desk. Sakura Haruno, front desk please."

The message played across the hospital's speaker system and a few minutes later the young woman in question came walking down the hallway towards the front desk.

When Sakura saw the ANBU Captain waiting for her, she sighed and rolled her eyes comically at him, "Shikamaru, I thought I turned you down last week.."

Shikamaru chuckled and held his hands up defensively, "I swear this is purely.."

The ANBU stopped talking when he noticed the gorgeous, pink-haired woman had several scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs, as well as a bandage on the back of her head and a band-aid across a cut on her forehead.

"What happened to you?" Shikamaru asked concernedly as he inspected the bandage on the girl's head.

Sakura giggled and pushed the doting ANBU away," Just returned from a mission not too long ago; got into a rough spot. Now what were you saying?"

"Uh. Never mind, I will find someone else to do it. You should go rest."

Sakura frowned and jabbed Shikamaru in the side, "Don't baby me. You came to me specifically for some job or something, didn't you? So let's do it."

Shikamaru was about to protest again, but decided against it as Sakura was already marching out of the hospital doors, "H-hey, wait up!"

Sakura waited for the ANBU Captain to catch up before taking to the rooftops, using chakra to hop from building to building as they made their way to the middle of the city.

"So you want to tell me where we are headed?" she shouted back to Shikamaru.

The ANBU caught up in a few bounds and adjusted his pace so they were traveling side by side, "I need you to come with me to release a prisoner."

Sakura snorted at that and looked over at Shikamaru, "And? There is something you aren't telling me."

"Eh. He is a yakuza thug we caught this morning; he was trying to break into the village. We locked him up a few hours ago, but two of the Sannin showed up and blabbered something about the prisoner and the Hokage sent me to free him. Thing is..he has been with Ibiki for a while and I thought he might need some medical attention," Shikamaru muttered the last part a little ashamedly.

Sakura's eyes went wide and then narrowed angrily, "Shikamaru! Why did you fiddle around then!? This guy could be dead by now! You know Ibiki is crazy when it comes to his job!"

The two didn't exchange any more words as they took off at a quicker pace towards Konoha's prison. It didn't take long for the two to reach the prison, and it took even less for them to find the cell Ibiki was conducting his investigation in.

Sakura rushed up to the door; she was breathing heavily and sweating profusely. Shikamaru wasn't much better off and took a deep breath before banging on the cell door.

No sound came from inside and he passed a wary glance to Sakura.

The pink-haired girl frowned and pounded on the large steel door herself, adding a bit more force than Shikamaru had.

The sound of a key unlocking the door could be heard, and after a pause, the door swung open to reveal Ibiki, his hands covered in blood and with smears of it on his clothes. He didn't look happy either, and Sakura guessed the prisoner had put up more of a fight than the older man would have liked.

"What is this all about..?" Ibiki started to say, but Sakura pushed past him and entered the room.

Her heart caught in her throat and her eyes widened in horror at the sight she was confronted with.

The _yakuza thug_ that had been both her savior and captor for nearly a week was suspended before her. Though she could barely recognize him through all the blood and dirt, it was definitely the man she remembered.

"Naruto!!" she screamed, crossing the room just as the blonde lost consciousness.

She almost cried at the state of the once proud and fiery young man. His nose and jaw were obviously broken, and his left eye was swollen to the point where it would be impossible to see, and the blood was everywhere. He had various cuts and bruises that painted his bronze skin a mismatch of red and purple. Sakura checked him over quickly and deduced that Naruto had at least 3 broken ribs and a broken wrist, apparently caused by the manacles holding his unconscious body in the air.

"Shikamaru! Help me get him down and back to the hospital!" she ordered frantically.

The ANBU Captain brushed past Ibiki and went over to the distraught medic, "What do you need me to do?"

"Get under one shoulder and I'll take the other, we can't afford to carry him because his ribs are broken, so we will have to support him like this till we can get him in a bed. Ibiki! Unlock these shackles and open that door wider!" she ordered, positioning herself under Naruto's left arm while Shikamaru took the right arm.

Ibiki hesitated for a second and was about to protest, but Sakura fixed him with a glare that could've froze water, "Do it, Ibiki."

The torturer sighed and obeyed, unlocking the shackles on Naruto's feet, then the ones on his wrists. Without the manacles to hold him up, Naruto's weight hit the two shinobi supporting him and Sakura almost stumbled, "Alright, let's get him out of here."

Without another word to Ibiki, the two carried Naruto's unconscious form out of the dungeon and into the sunlight.

They took a minute to catch their breath, and then took off towards the hospital as quickly as they could.

* * *

"Ibiki I hear you were using less than normal methods on our captive from this morning. Care to explain why?" Sarutobi droned, looking over Shikamaru's report at the torturer.

Ibiki sighed at the two other occupants of the room. He hadn't expected an ANBU Captain to burst in on his interrogation, and in typical ANBU fashion, the pineapple-headed lazy ass had reported on him!

"The prisoner was being exceptionally resistant to normal methods, sir," Ibiki answered.

"Nonetheless, those plates are to be used on especially powerful S-class rogue SHINOBI! The man you tortured has had no chakra training, chakra resistance, or protection from those plates!" Sarutobi growled, frowning intensely at the other man.

"In my defense, sir, Naruto Uzumaki is a known yakuza enforcer with claim to over 100 kills and an immense list of other known criminal acts. He is just as dangerous, if not more so, than some of the shinobi I've used those plates on," Ibiki retorted respectfully, keeping his emotions in check.

Sarutobi nodded, _'He is much more than that..'_

The Hokage looked from Shikamaru, who had been silently standing in the corner, to the window before sighing tiredly, "You have a good point in that, Ibiki. You will not receive the full punishment intended for such abuse, but will be held under house-arrest for 30 days. Your sentence will be carried out to the full, unless I or any figure of equal authority decide to shorten it. You are dismissed."

Shikamaru watched as the torturer exited the room before turning to Sarutobi, "I can't say I completely agree with your choice on that one, sir."

"You aren't in the position to give your opinion, Shikamaru. This may come back to bite me in the ass, but it is better to have Morino Ibiki on our side, rather than harboring hatred towards us," Sarutobi muttered, lighting his pipe.

"Sakura will not let this drop quietly; she was extremely upset at the state of the yakuza," Shikamaru said as he made his way to the door.

The old shinobi frowned in confusion and held up a hand, signaling Shikamaru to wait, "You said she screamed the prisoner's name when she saw him in that cell?"

Shikamaru nodded, "Yes. She was visibly upset while we carried Naruto out of the prison as well."

"Hmm. Did you inform her on who he was before you got to the cell?"

Puzzled, Shikamaru shook his head and turned away from the door, taking a seat across from his leader, "No, I just told her we were going after a prisoner. No names or information involved."

"Then it seems our dear girl has met this yakuza somewhere before," Sarutobi muttered, looking out a window in thought.

Shikamaru frowned and leaned on the Hokage's desk, "Perhaps on her mission? Did she report anything about it? I noticed she was bruised up and had a bandage on her head."

"She didn't make a report. Her team leader, Kakashi, did."

* * *

Kakashi wasn't a man to be rushed into anything, and the annoying ANBU Captain that was pestering him about his mission report from a week ago wasn't helping him get to the end of his book.

"Kakashi please! I need to know what happened on that mission!" Shikamaru bellowed from the ground below the tree Kakashi was sitting in.

The white-haired ninja cast a lazy eye down at the man below him, "Yo. Shikamaru, how long have you been there?"

The Copy-cat Ninja smiled behind his mask as the pineapple-headed ANBU turned red and kicked the dirt. Kakashi always had a way of aggravating people that were in a hurry. He lived his life simply and slowly, constantly late and never without an excuse; he was admired by some and despised by others.

A legend in his own right, Kakashi had mastered almost as many jutsu as the Hokage, had spent a 7 year stint in ANBU Black Ops, brought more S-class criminals to justice than anyone to date, and was the creator of arguably the most powerful assassination jutsu ever created, the **Chidori**.

No matter how much of a legend he was, people still seemed to forget all that and chalk him up as a lazy, mask-wearing, porn-reading, pervert. Not that Kakashi really cared either way.

"I've been yelling at you for 15 minutes!" Shikamaru bellowed, still stomping around at the base of the tree.

"Oh? Sorry, I was caught up in my book. What can I do for ya?"

Shikamaru stopped pacing and exhaled before looking back up at Team 7's leader, "Come down here and we can talk."

Kakashi dropped out of the tree and landed nimbly beside the other man, "I'm at your service, Captain-san."

Shikamaru nodded and looked around the deserted street cautiously, "I need to know what happened to Sakura during your team's latest mission."

"Why don't you ask her? Or read the mission report.." he droned, crossing his arms and giving Shikamaru a quizzical look.

Shikamaru looked unconvinced, "I've already read the report and all it says was you went on a retrieval mission in Yosin to retrieve some papers from an informant. Nothing about Sakura, a fight or anything."

Kakashi frowned beneath his mask, "And you don't accept that is what happened?"

Shikamaru's gaze became serious and he stepped close to the white-haired man, "Sakura has a myriad collection of bruises and scrapes on her arms and legs, not to mention the massive bandage on the back of her head. She didn't get those from falling down the stairs."

"You're right. She didn't fall down any stairs during the mission," Kakashi drawled, eye-smiling at the ANBU.

"I'm not joking around, Kakashi. What happened to her during that mission? I have permission from the Hokage to get this information from whoever or whatever I please," Shikamaru hissed, pointing a finger at Kakashi.

What happened next would be the subject of many reports and red tape. In the blink of an eye Kakashi lunged at Shikamaru, picking him up by his flak jacket and slamming him against the wall of one of the deserted stores that inhabited the lonely street. Shikamaru didn't fight back as Kakashi pinned him against the wall; he knew better than to try anything foolish against the other man.

"Don't threaten me, boy. Just because you wear that ridiculous ANBU mask, does not give you the right to threaten your elders and betters! What Team 7 does on their missions is between them and the Hokage, not you. Did you actually think you could scare _me_ into telling you anything?" Kakashi hissed through his mask, his one eye staring furiously into Shikamaru's two.

"Kakashi..you know what will happen if I report this- Ungh!" Shikamaru started to say before he was slammed against the wall again.

"I told you not to threaten me, Shikamaru. You will get nothing out of me, and you best not bother Sakura or Sai about it either," The white-haired man warned, releasing Shikamaru and disappearing in a puff of white smoke.

It was all Shikamaru could do to not gape at what had just happened.

Kakashi, the goofy, laid-back, fun guy that he was, had just shown a side that Shikamaru had never seen. The white-haired man had never been violent or even rude to him in all the years they had known each other.

Something very, very serious must've happened on their mission; something that would make Kakashi so protective of not only the information, but of his team as well. It was something that would cause him to react so angrily towards Shikamaru's questioning; that didn't bode well with the pineapple-haired man at all.

Shikamaru sighed and dusted off his vest, wondering exactly what to do next. He was sure Kakashi would be watching over Sai and Sakura now, just to make sure they weren't bothered.

'_What happened to you, Sakura?'_

* * *

Sakura sighed and wiped the sweat that had collected on her brow. The operation had gone well, and Naruto's outer wounds had been taken care of. She had set most of his broken bones and taken care of the cuts and bruises, but there was little she could do about the damage done to his organs.

Even Tsunade had come by and taken a look at the blonde, but sadly because of the intensity of the foreign chakra burns on his heart and lungs, she couldn't risk pumping anymore chakra into them, healing-natured or not.

The Hokage had dropped by during the operation to check on things, but after studying the blonde for few moments excused himself and hurried back to his office.

Finally, Shizune had come by for a little bit, but began crying hysterically when she saw the state Naruto was in, and had to be escorted out by Jiraiya.

Now, however, it was just Sakura and Naruto in the hospital room, as the other nurses and staff had been ordered to let the blonde sleep after the operation.

Sakura sighed and looked at her blonde charge; she had decided to take the first watch over him, just in case anything went wrong during his sleep.

She smiled as he breathed in and out slowly, finally somewhere safe from harm; a place where he could sleep. Sakura wondered if he had done the same for her when she had been imprisoned in the yakuza compound.

It seemed like an age ago, but she had to admit barely a week had passed since she had spent time with the blonde, talking and laughing despite their captivity. At least, she had thought he was a captive until the compound was attacked. That hadn't been fun at all. The man she had come to know and like during such a short time had turned out to be the man that had captured her in the first place.

She had felt hurt and betrayed at first, then angry and vengeful, but now she didn't know how she felt about Naruto's true self.

Sakura had pondered that throughout the next few days. A yakuza he might be, but he had taken care of her and taken the edge off being a prisoner, right? She had told herself she couldn't forgive him for deceiving her, but was he right about her? If she had known he was part of the organization that imprisoned her, would she have even given him a chance to get to know her? She admitted to herself that she probably wouldn't have.

Another part of her was curious as to why she even thought about it anymore. Why ponder over some guy you met in a prison and talked to? Sakura almost laughed out loud at how silly her thoughts were. She must be getting tired.

"Sakura?" A voice woke her from her thoughts.

She immediately turned to see if Naruto had woken up and was calling out to her, but saw that he was still sound asleep. It disappointed her a little bit, but she didn't know why.

Sakura stood up from her chair beside the blonde's bed and turned to see who had come in, "Uh, yea? Sorry I dozed off."

"Hehe. It's alright; I'm here to relieve you," The young nurse giggled as she entered the room.

Sakura recognized her immediately as Hinata Hyuga, the lavender-eyed heir to Konoha's most powerful clan.

"Ah, Hinata. I was hoping they would send someone with heart to relieve me. Most of these nurses would take a scalpel to Naruto's throat, rather than watch over him," Sakura sighed, walking over to the other woman and giving her a hug.

Hinata giggled and hugged her pink-haired friend back, "Big, bad, yakuza or not; I don't murder a patient we spent 2 hours trying to save."

Sakura pulled away and smiled sleepily, "I know you wouldn't. I will be in one of the overnight rooms just down the hall. Come get me if anything happens."

"Oh no you don't! You go home and crawl into your own bed. Nothing will happen that I and the nursing staff can't handle. Shizune-chan is taking the shift after me as well, so you won't have to worry about any psycho nurses murdering your boyfriend till at least..7 in the morning," Hinata said, smirking slyly at the last part.

Sakura blushed and shook her finger in Hinata's face, "It is NOT like that. I just know him from somewhere and he helped me out in a tough spot" she explained, before quirking an eye at her friend. "Shizune? Tsunade-hime's assistant? Why is she offering to watch him?"

Hinata giggled lightly and looked Sakura up and down while waggling her eyebrows, "What did you need help from a yakuza with? Getting undressed? Paying your gambling bills? And yea, Shizune offered out of the blue, maybe he _helped _her with something too."

Sakura blushed again and slapped a hand over her friend's mouth, "Hinata! You are so vulgar, I swear!"

The lavender-eyed woman just giggled through Sakura's hand and rolled her eyes comically. Sakura couldn't help it and started giggling too, until they both noticed how loud they were getting and had to cover their mouths.

Hinata pointed at the door with her free hand and made the "okay" sign with her fingers, while Sakura nodded and took one last look at Naruto before leaving the room.

Hinata watched Sakura leave, and then went to sit beside Naruto's bed, "How ya doing, big boy?"

* * *

Sakura walked lazily through the moonlit streets of Konoha on her way back to her apartment. She was surprised how quickly the day had passed at the hospital.

The moon was full and bathed the village in silver light that made Konoha all the more beautiful than it usually was. She almost wished she had someone to share the beauty of the night with, admitting that it was too pretty for one set of eyes. And as if on cue, Shikamaru dropped from a roof and walked over to join her.

"Speak of the devil," Sakura muttered, looking over at the ANBU Captain.

Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the silver clouds floating through the twinkling sky, "Nice night."

Sakura nodded and continued her slow walk, "Sure is. How did things go with the Hokage?"she asked, "Did Ibiki get his just deserves?"

Shikamaru shrugged and kicked a rock out of his way as they walked, "He, umm, Ibiki is on house-arrest for a month."

Sakura stopped and looked at her ANBU companion, "What? You're kidding right?" she asked surprised.

Shikamaru stopped and looked at the ground while scratching the back of his neck, "No. Ibiki had a good argument and Sarutobi let him off with a minimal punishment."

"He nearly killed Naruto! He used those fucking shock plates that they used on-!" Sakura started to retort, before stopping mid-sentence and looking away.

"That they used on Sasuke; I know," Shikamaru finished, sadness filling his eyes as he looked at his pink-haired friend.

Sasuke Uchiha was not a subject that anyone liked to talk about. The talented young ninja had deserted the village on his 16th birthday and had cut off all connection with Konoha. He had left his home, his team, and his girlfriend all behind on his quest to find his brother, Itachi.

Sakura's heart had been ripped in two on the day her boyfriend, lover and best friend, Sasuke Uchiha had abandoned her with nothing.

Konoha had sent countless hunter-nin teams out to bring the raven-haired prodigy back to the village, but all of them failed; either finding no trace of the young man, or not returning to the village at all.

It had been 3 years. Sakura believed she was healing, but it still stung to think about him.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," Shikamaru muttered quietly.

"Yea, well..whatever. Nothing to be sorry about; it has been a long day and I get a little emotional without sleep," She said to herself more than Shikamaru.

"Mind if I walk you home?" Shikamaru offered, "I'm headed that way anyways."

Sakura smiled weakly and nodded, "Yea, I would like that."

Without another word, the two friends continued their walk to Sakura's apartment.

* * *

Shizune walked at a brisk pace through the hospital entrance and with a wave and a smile at the receptionist darted off down one of the hallways. She knew she should've just stayed up all night; falling asleep and showing up late for "Naruto-watch" was not something she was going to let herself forget.

She blazed down the hall, counting the numbers on the doors, till she found the one she was looking for: Room 243.

Stopping in front of the door, she adjusted her kimono where it had ridden up, and calmed her breathing before opening the door and peeking inside. A smile split her face when she caught the sight of the Hyuga girl resting her head on the blonde's lap, snoring lightly.

With barely a sound, Shizune entered the room and shut the door behind her. A few cautious steps and she was at Naruto's bedside.

Ever so gently, Shizune shook the other girl's arm and woke her up, "Honey, it's time for you to find a real bed."

Hinata smiled groggily and looked over Naruto with a practiced eye; she noted the heart rate monitor and everything was in place before standing up, "Oh but he is such a nice pillow.."

"Hehe. I know, right?"

Hinata yawned and gave Shizune a quizzical look, "You say that as if you know all about it."

Shizune waved away the question and took a seat next to Naruto, "Oh its nothing. Sorry I was late."

The other girl was intrigued now, "Have you..slept with him?"

"Maybe. Why?" Shizune asked.

Hinata yawned again and shook her head, "No reason. Just curious."

Before Shizune could ask what she had meant; Hinata was out of the room and gone.

"Oh well," She muttered to herself as she stroked Naruto's spiky mane.

* * *

The sun flooded through Sakura's room as Konoha began to wake up and begin the day's duties.

The soft, yellow light kissed the tangle of pink hair that stuck out from under her thick white comforter.

A groan came from under the covers and Sakura poked her head through the comforter and yawned like a bear coming out of hibernation. After a few minutes of staring around her room dumbly, she caught sight of her alarm clock and just how late she had slept in. 7:30.

With a shriek of alarm she kicked off the covers and leapt out of bed, "Shit!"

She slid across the room and scooped her clothes across the floor as she went, throwing on the clothes she had worn last night without a thought. After slipping on her shirt, she went into the bathroom and checked her appearance in the mirror, groaning at her appearance, "Shit!"

In a few seconds she was naked and in the shower, scrubbing away yesterday's sweat and blood, and cleaning her hair.

It took nearly an hour, but she was finally ready to leave; showered, shaved, and clothed in a clean outfit Sakura headed out the door. 8:45.

She arrived at the hospital and flew to Naruto's room, swinging open the door and sweeping into the room. 9:02.

The room was empty, the bed was made, and it looked as if no one had ever been in Room 243.

Sakura was officially worried. 9:06.

* * *

What'd everyone think? I haven't written in so long it feels weird to pick up my story.


	8. Chapter 7

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 7_

Sakura gave the room a quick look-over; her heart was beating faster and her throat got tighter when she found nothing revealing where Naruto might have gone.

'_Oh god, Naruto. Where have you gone off to?'_

With one last glance at the empty room; she sprinted out and caught a passing nurse, "Room 243! Where is the patient?!"

The startled woman could only shake her head and mumble, "243? Uh, gone?"

Sakura grimaced and released the nurse and began running through the hospital, dodging nurses and patients left and right. _'Oh god..oh god..'_

Once clear of the hospital, the pink-haired medic flew into the air, pumping chakra into her legs and leaping houses in single bounds. She surveyed the village through clear, green eyes as she flew over Konoha like a great hawk in search of prey. How could the blonde have escaped so quickly after being so injured? Or if not escaped; who had made off with him?

"Yo! Sakura!" a voiced called out from behind her.

Surprised by being called on, Sakura forgot where her feet were, and slipped off the side of a tile roof she had been standing on. Before she had time to plummet 3 stories to the pavement below; a hand grabbed her wrist and halted her descent. "Shit!"

Kakashi peered over the edge of the roof and smiled at her. "My bad," he muttered.

"Hehe! Nah, not at all. Just caught me a little distracted," Sakura answered, peering cautiously at the ground below her.

With a grunt and a tug, the white-haired Jounin hauled her up onto the relative safety of the roof edge.

"You have been so busy lately we haven't been able to talk. Saw you speeding across the rooftops and decided I would try and catch you; no pun intended," explained Kakashi.

"Ah. No problem. I have been taking care of the umm yakuza guy that was captured yesterday," Sakura stated, smiling at her rescuer.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at his former student. "Yakuza guy?" he asked.

Sakura giggled and brushed the hair out of her face, taking a moment to relax in the presence of her friend and former sensei.

"Uhh, yeah. Naruto is his name," she said nonchalantly. "Ibiki put the hurting on him, then Hokage-sama had him released, and then I took care of him…and now.."

The white-haired Jounin smiled and nodded his head. "..and now you forget where you left him?"

Sakura giggled and shook her head, motioning with her hand around the village. "I always seem to lose my yakuza thugs. They are like my house keys, I lose em' all the time," she joked.

"Well, I guess I could help you find your patient if you don't mind the company?" offered Kakashi.

Sakura nodded and got to her feet. "Not at all," she said, happy for the company. "It helps to have an extra pair of..well - it helps to have an extra eye out."

"I am _so _offended right now; you have no idea," Kakashi mocked in a girly tone as he took off across the rooftops.

"Hey wait! Kaka-sensei! I was only joking!" protested Sakura as she leapt after him.

* * *

Shikamaru growled as he watched Sakura and Kakashi bound across the horizon of Konoha.

Not only had the white-haired Jounin warned him about confronting Team 7, but now he was playing watchdog too!

From his hiding place in one of the larger oak trees bordering the village's outer wall, Shikamaru had watched the whole exchange between Sakura and her teammate.

"Well if I didn't see Kakashi take off with Forehead girl, I would've sworn it was him spying on girls from the safety of a tree.." a voice whispered in his ear.

Startled, Shikamaru nearly fell from his perch in the tree. "Ah! W-what?! No!" he spluttered.

A pair of slender arms encircled his waist and steadied him before he could fall. "Now now, _Captain_. You really must watch your back at all times.." the voice cooed.

Shikamaru recognized the purring voice almost immediately and sighed in relief that he hadn't been caught by anyone else. "Isn't that your job, Ino?"

The platinum haired, bombshell of a blonde giggled and punched him in the back. "And what a clumsy back it is!" Ino roared.

Shikamaru swung himself around to face Ino. "What are you doing here?" he asked, frowning at her playfully.

"It's my day off," purred Ino.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at his teammate. "Did I give you the day off, soldier?"

"Sir, no sir! However, you did assign me a reconnaissance mission!" the kunoichi rattled off, saluting Shikamaru.

"Oh?" questioned Shikamaru.

"Mhmm. I was ordered to find all peeping-toms within village perimeters and paddle their asses for being perverted, sir!" Ino said in mock military fashion, winking at her captain seductively.

Shikamaru grinned and leaned in to kiss the platinum-haired girl, but met only air as Ino backed away.

"What's up?" he asked, giving Ino a questioning gaze.

"You tell me," Ino ordered, her tone going from flirty to stony in a millisecond. "Why were you spying on Sakura?"

Shikamaru gulped and rubbed the back of his neck; he couldn't lie to Ino.

As kids they had been assigned to the same Jounin instructor and grew to be close friends. Later in life they both were picked to join ANBU, and then later were put on the same squad, which Shikamaru became Captain of. While they had always been close friends, the danger and long hours of ANBU life forced them to consider each other as something more. Soon they had become lovers, then not lovers, then lovers again; the pattern had repeated itself more than either of them could remember. Both of the ANBU dated other people here and there, but kept a key to each other's apartment just in case.

"Well?" Ino repeated, crossing her arms over her chest impatiently.

"Eh, well it's complicated," Shikamaru managed to choke out.

Ino wasn't one to wait long periods of time for anything, and would make no concession on this matter either. Being the strong, dominating woman that she was; she decided to give her captain some incentive to hurry up. With a flick of her wrist, a senbon needle flew from her hand and stuck itself in Shikamaru's thigh.

"Ow! Ino! C'mon!" he bellowed.

Ino frowned and pointedly drew another needle from her sleeve. "Out with it," she ordered.

"Okay okay! I was trying to get Sakura alone to talk to her!" Shikamaru spat, ripping the projectile from his leg and glaring at Ino.

"What? Why?" Ino asked, more curious than angry. Anything that involved her rival, Sakura, was juicy news to Ino.

"Kakashi doesn't want me to talk to her about Team 7's latest mission. I am trying to conduct an investigation, but I am avoiding stepping on toes at the same time," explained Shikamaru.

Ino's face scrunched up comically as she considered his story. "What is this _investigation_ about?"

"I don't know if it really concerns you.." Shikamaru began to say, but stopped when Ino waggled the needle in front of him.

"I have like 20 more of these on me."

"Sakura came back from her mission with various cuts and bruises, accompanied by a head injury of some kind. Nothing in the mission report says anything about a fight or incident, and Kakashi sticks by his report. I need to find out what happened on that mission," explained Shikamaru.

"Umm, who cares? She isn't dead, traumatized, or even remotely concerned about her scrapes as far as I can see. Why investigate it at all?" Ino deadpanned, picking her teeth with the senbon needle.

Shikamaru blinked dumbly and found he was unable to come back with a sensible answer.

"Exactly, Captain; you have no reason at all to investigate this, other than your own curiosity with Sakura," she finished.

"That's not it at all," the young Captain argued. "This is an official investigation; nothing more, nothing less."

"You can't lie to me, Shikamaru," Ino stated proudly. "I know you better than you know yourself; you are infatuated with Billboard-brow.

Shikamaru sat in silence and nodded his head dumbly.

Ino could tell he was a little ashamed to admit such a thing in front of her so she reached over and patted her friend on the shoulder reassuringly. "It's not a crime, Shikamaru."

"I will help you in your investigation," she continued. "But I don't want you to whine when it turns out to be a waste of time."

There was a pause before Shikamaru looked up at his friend and grinned weakly. "Thank you, Ino," he muttered.

She simply shrugged and dropped out of the tree in reply. Shikamaru chuckled to himself then dropped down to follow her.

* * *

Sakura caught up with Kakashi just as they came up on the Hokage's tower. "Might as well check here too," she sighed, shrugging at the white-haired man.

Kakashi nodded and turned to face her. "You go ahead. I just remembered something I have to do," he said, looking up the tower's long flight of stairs.

"Uh huh. Enjoy your book, Kakashi," Sakura teased.

The white-haired man chuckled and waved before disappearing in a puff of white smoke.

Sighing to herself, Sakura made her way up the stairs and into the tower; the steps seemed to wind around the red building an impossible number of times, and she was nearly out of breath by the time she reached the top. At the entrance, Sakura subconsciously smoothed out her hair and stepped inside the cool, stone building, grateful for a respite from the midday sun.

As she made her way through the tower, people would wave and greet her as she passed. Some of the people she knew, and some she didn't, but she returned the greetings just the same.

She reached the Hokage's office in a short time and stopped at the secretary's desk. "Sakura Haruno here to see the Hokage, please."

The girl at the desk smiled and nodded, pressing an intercom button and letting the village leader know he had a visitor.

It didn't take long and Sarutobi's voice came over the intercom, letting Sakura know she could enter.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," she said, taking a seat across from the older man.

"Hehe. Call me Sarutobi, child; there is no need for titles," replied Sarutobi, smiling warmly at her. "What can I do for you?"

Sakura grinned and then put on a serious tone. "Sir, my patient, Naruto Uzumaki, has gone missing. None of the nurses at the hospital knew anything except he was gone, and I haven't heard a word from anyone as to his whereabouts," she explained, frowning confusedly at the village leader. "I was wondering if you knew anything that could help me."

Sarutobi groaned and hit a button on his desk. "Would you please send for Tsunade-hime," he droned into the microphone.

Sakura watched as the village leader frowned at the button as if it was supposed to answer him directly.

"I don't know exactly what happened to your patient, Sakura, but Tsunade might know something. She had quite a lot to say about him the other day," said Sarutobi.

Sakura pondered what he meant, but waited till Sarutobi had filled his pipe with tobacco before saying anything. "If it isn't too bold of me; what did Tsunade-sama say about Naruto?" she asked.

"I will let you ask her some time. Right now, it is best that I not discuss private discussions, Sakura," whispered Sarutobi.

She blushed and started to apologize, but Sarutobi waved it off. "You are curious about your charge; I can't blame you." he said.

"Thank you, Sarutobi-sama."

They passed the next few minutes in silence. Sakura lost in her thoughts, and Sarutobi lost in his pipe.

It didn't take long and the secretary's voice came over the intercom, startling Sakura and making Sarutobi sit up. "Tsunade-sama is here now, sir."

"You called?" Tsunade asked, sweeping into the room.

Sakura stood up and offered her seat to the Slug Princess, who took the seat with muttered thanks.

The pink-haired girl was a little perturbed with the Sannin's snobbish behavior but set aside her thoughts and got to the point of her visit. "Tsunade-sama, I am the medic in charge of the patient, Naruto Uzumaki. The Hokage and I were wondering if you knew anything about his whereabouts," Sakura explained.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Sarutobi, clearly surprised at the forwardness of the young medic. "And just who the hell are you?" the blonde asked.

Sakura was about to reply, but Sarutobi cut her off. "This is Sakura Haruno, special-Jounin and medic-nin of Team 7. She is a brilliant young lady, Tsunade; one of the sharpest minds to graduate from the academy," the old man explained, a tinge of pride in his voice.

"I am Tsunade," the blonde offered, getting up from her seat and nodding to Sakura.

Sakura nearly screamed in frustration as the blonde woman bowed, then turned and sat back down, offering no other information, as if Sakura should know everything else. Of course the young woman knew about the legendary Slug Princess, Sannin, and medical genius that Tsunade was, but that didn't excuse the blonde from offering a polite introduction.

"Tsunade, you really haven't changed all these years, have you?" Sarutobi scolded, frowning at the blonde.

Tsunade groaned and rolled her brown eyes, "I am sorry, Sakura, but Naruto is in my custody now."

The room went quiet, and Sarutobi shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"What? B-but he is MY patient. You can't just snatch him out of his room!" Sakura blurted out angrily.

"Blah, blah, I know all about being a good caretaker; Naruto is perfectly safe with me. I just gave you some time off; enjoy it," said Tsunade, shrugging disinterestedly.

Sakura was furious. Sannin or not, the blonde had no right to take her patient!

"I don't give a damn! I want my patient back; you had no right to remove him from my custody!" she spat, staring the older woman down.

Sarutobi stood up from his chair and held his hands out to placate her. "Sakura, this is not the attitude to take with this situation." he warned.

"Respectfully, sir, I am not in the mood to curb my attitude. I want my Naruto back, and I will have him!" Sakura stated forcefully.

Both Tsunade and Sarutobi caught the last part of her sentence and sent her quizzical looks. "_Your_ Naruto?" they said in unison.

Sakura frowned at them both in confusion before realizing what she had said. "Oh! Umm, I didn't mean it like that. I meant he is MY patient, and umm..it came out wrong," she explained, the color rising in her cheeks.

Unexpectedly, Tsunade started to chuckle. "Well, you have the spunk needed to be a good medic; I will give you that, Sakura. You have almost convinced me that Naruto is your property," she chortled, grinning at the blushing young woman.

Sakura was about to reply, but decided against it.

"I apologize for snatching your patient, but there is a lot more to him than a few broken bones and organ damage," Tsunade continued, "Naruto is extremely dangerous, and I don't think you can handle him, no matter how good a medic you are."

"Sakura is perfectly capable of handling herself and her patient." offered Sarutobi, leaning back in his chair.

Sakura nodded her agreement, crossing her arms and looking at Tsunade sternly. She was glad the Hokage supported her, because she wasn't sure just how much arguing she could get away with.

"You can't be serious, Sarutobi," Tsunade muttered, looking at the old man as if he was crazy.

"I trust Sakura completely," the old man stated, winking at the pink-haired kunoichi.

Tsunade was about to blurt something, but bit her tongue and closed her eyes. "And if his _condition_, worsens?" she asked.

Sarutobi simply shrugged and waved his room around his office. "You, Jiraiya, myself, and a whole village of shinobi are there to help if anything happens."

Sakura didn't understand what exactly the two were talking about. Naruto had a condition she wasn't aware of? She had run an extensive scan to find anything wrong with Naruto's body, and other than the wounds received from Ibiki's torture, she hadn't found anything that would warrant the attention of the entire village.

"What condition? Is there something I don't know about Naruto?" Sakura asked, looking at Tsunade expectantly.

The blonde woman shook her head in reply and forced a smile. "No, nothing. I'm sure you are more than capable of caring for him. You can come and pick him up at my place any time. We are staying at the old Uchiha compound."

Without another word, Tsunade stood up and left the room.

After the blonde had left, Sakura turned to the Hokage. "Should I be worried, Sarutobi-sama?" she asked, looking every part the serious doctor.

Sarutobi shook his wizened head and chuckled. "Not at all, Sakura. Go get your patient back, before Tsunade changes her mind," he advised, pointing at the door of his office.

Sakura didn't want to leave without an explanation, but knew the Hokage had basically told her it was time to leave. "Thank you, Hokage-sama," she said, bowing lightly.

Without further words, Sakura left the office and went in search of someone to help her reclaim her patient.

* * *

Kakashi watched Sakura leave the tower, a triumphant grin plastered across her pretty face. He didn't know what had happened, but whatever transpired between Sakura, the Hokage, and Tsunade-sama had obviously gone in his former student's favor.

He watched silently as she made her way onto the road and broke into a run. No Shikamaru in sight, so Kakashi decided he could leave Sakura alone for a while.

After he had parted ways with the girl an hour ago, he had went and checked on the other member of Team 7; he had found Sai painting in the woods at one of the team training areas.

'_Hmm, probably should go see if he is still there. Alone,'_ Kakashi mused to himself as he exited the shadow of the building he had been observing Sakura from.

"That wasn't weird at all," a voice droned from above him.

Kakashi cast a look upward and was greeted by the smiling visage of his teammate, Sai.

"Yo. How long you been up there?" Kakashi asked, leaping up to the roof and taking a seat beside the pale young man.

Sai smiled at him and pointed at the disappearing red blur that was rapidly moving out of eyesight. "Ever since Sakura-chan came out of the Hokage's tower."

"Any particular reason you were spying on her?" Sai asked. "Has she caught your fancy?"

Kakashi chuckled and shook his head. "No, but she has caught someone else's; that's who I'm looking out for."

"Ah, Shikamaru," whispered Sai.

Kakashi groaned and lay down on his back to look up at the clouds. Everyone knew the ANBU Captain had a grade school crush on Sakura, everyone except Kakashi apparently.

"I don't mind that he likes Sakura, but I do mind where he pokes his nose in Sakura's and our business," the masked man said, turning to look at Sai.

Sai smiled and nodded in agreement. "It is not Shikamaru's place to interfere with Team 7's missions or members. Although, I believe he does so out of a sense of protectiveness towards Sakura-chan," he pointed out.

"Don't tell me you agree with what he is doing," Kakashi groaned.

"Not at all, Kakashi, I just read in my book about people doing weird things for the one they love, wither or not it is what their loved one wishes," Sai explained.

Kakashi sighed and looked over at his teammate. "You really need to stop reading those books."

The other man frowned sadly and Kakashi regretted his words.

Sai had been raised within ANBU, and had been trained to have no emotion. He couldn't form bonds with people, he couldn't recognize emotion; Sai had been trained to be cut off from other people completely. The ANBU had tried to raise a machine instead of a man.

The pale, emotionless, boy had left his life within ANBU however, and had joined Team 7 after Sasuke's defection. It had been rough getting used to the strange boy, but soon, with Sakura and Kakashi's help; Sai had started to learn social skills, and was blossoming into a likeable young man. He still had only a handful of friends, but people were slowly starting to accept him.

Even with all his emotional and social growth; Sai still had trouble, and would often refer to books he would read about emotion and social learning, which gave a slightly skewed view on things most people knew as common knowledge. It got annoying and awkward sometimes, but few people called Sai out on it.

"I apologize, Sai. I didn't mean to be rude," Kakashi offered.

"I know you meant no offense," Sai admitted, smiling at the masked man and patting his bag. "These books are a crutch to me, but I hope to be rid of them soon."

Kakashi nodded and got to his feet, looking out over the town a couple times before turning to his teammate. "Until Shikamaru decides to drop his investigation we need to keep an eye on Sakura. That mission is none of his business, and Sakura doesn't need to be bothered about it."

"I will keep an eye on her and an eye out for the ANBU Captain. You have my word," Sai stated confidently.

Kakashi nodded and left Sai sitting alone on top of the building.

Sai watched the white-haired man leave and then turned back to gaze at the village. The wind ruffled his jet-black hair, and he smiled into the wind before opening his bag and removing his painting utensils. Konoha shone like a diamond in the midday sun, and Sai was determined to capture it forever on canvas.

* * *

Hinata sat in her garden and hummed contentedly as she went through and removed weeds and grass that attempted to invade her sanctuary. Most of the nurses had ways to cope with the stresses of working at the hospital, and gardening was Hinata's.

She loved the feel of the cool, earth in her fingers, the gentle scents that floated from the plants, and most of all the peace and quiet that seemed to drown anything that stepped into the garden. The sound of the busy village seemed to fade into nothing when she walked among her plants and flowers, and the calming effect it had on the lavender-eyed girl was cherished.

Today was different however; Hinata could not relax her mind. It seemed to stew and brood over what Shizune had said to her. An innocent comment to be sure, but she was almost positive there had been a sense of pride in the other woman's voice. Almost as if Tsunade's assistant was _gloating_ about having slept with the blonde criminal.

"What was she getting on about..?" she asked herself quietly.

Sure the women in the village would gloat to each other about their sexual conquests from time to time, usually at the hot springs after a few drinks, but what Shizune had barely hinted at was all together different.

The Hyuga heir wasn't exactly sure why it was bothering her so, but had come to terms that there just wasn't something right about the snippet of a conversation the two women had shared in Room 243.

Her thoughts were interrupted once again however, as one of the Hyuga clan's servants quietly entered Hinata's garden and bowed low before her.

"Hinata-sama, there is a visitor to see you." the man-servant said softly.

Hinata smiled at the young man and got to her feet, storing the conversation with Shizune in the back of her mind for later contemplation. "I will go see who it is. Thank you," she said, giving the servant a small bow before sending him away.

After washing the dirt from her fingers and changing her robe, Hinata made her way to the front entrance and opened the large wooden gate that led out of the Hyuga compound.

Slowly Hinata peeked her head out the door and smiled at the person pacing back and forth a few feet away. "Sakura! Nice of you to flatten the entranceway, I really do appreciate it!" she teased, surprising the pink-haired girl.

"Hinata! Are you free this evening?" Sakura asked excitedly.

Both women looked at each other, one bouncing up and down, the other leaning out of the wooden door apprehensively.

"Maybe. What do you need?" the Hyuga girl queried.

"I got back custody of Naruto and I need you to help me move him somewhere." said Sakura, beckoning Hinata with her hand.

Hinata raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Got him back?" she asked.

"Yeah, umm Tsunade took him for a while, and I didn't know where he was, but know I have custody of him, and I am going to go pick him up at the Uchiha compound." Sakura explained, pointing down the street.

"Uh huh. So they took him out of the hospital, because..?" the Hyuga woman asked.

Sakura shook her head and pointed back down the street. "I don't know really, but we got to go get him. So come on, girl! I need your help, pwease!?"

"Right. Ok, let's get this over with," Hinata sighed, closing the gate behind her and following her friend.

Sakura was like a kid headed to the candy store, skipping here, hopping there, and bouncing around excitedly. Hinata walked calmly, watching her friend's antics amusedly.

As the two walked, Sakura recalled everything that had happened since they had seen each other.

Hinata frowned when Sakura mentioned Shizune being the last on watch and must've had something to do with moving Naruto. _'Should I tell her?'_ she thought.

In the end Hinata decided to hold her tongue as the pink-haired bouncy ball continued bouncing around her reciting everything that had happened during her quest to find Naruto.

Hinata did, however, interrupt her friend when she heard about the night-time rendezvous with Shikamaru. "Ooh, Shikamaru walked you home?" she cooed, batting her eyelashes at her pink-haired companion.

"Yeah, he did," Sakura admitted disinterestedly. "Anyways, Tsunade hinted something about Naruto's condition, and when I asked her about it, she just left!" the medic-nin exclaimed, still bouncing around like a school girl.

Hinata sighed and stopped walking.

It took a few minutes for Sakura to notice and come back to stand in front of the Hyuga girl. "Why'd you stop?" she asked.

"Sakura, the most eligible bachelor in the village walked nearly a mile with you to your house and you don't blink an eye, but when anything about Naruto is even whispered, you freak out!" growled Hinata.

"Huh?" Sakura mumbled.

Hinata sighed and grabbed the pink-haired woman by her shoulders, shaking slowly. "Why are you putting up such a fuss about a murdering, thieving, yakuza gangster, when there is a respectable, handsome, successful, ANBU Captain that is pining for your attention?"

"I am not fussing over Naruto; he is just my responsibility. It is my duty to see him to good health and make sure he doesn't get killed while he is here," Sakura answered simply.

Hinata rolled her eyes and started walking again, pushing past Sakura none too gently. "Forget it."

"What? I don't understand what you are getting so mad about!" Sakura spat, getting a little frustrated herself.

Hinata just kept walking in the direction of the Uchiha compound, Sakura following in her wake.

No more words were said till they reached the entrance to the abandoned former home of Konoha's once proud, Uchiha clan.

The neighborhood was a ghost town and a grim reminder for Sakura. Sasuke, the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre, had lived alone in the compound for as long as she knew, and just walking through the entrance made her throat tighten.

Silently, the two women made their way to the house Tsunade had appropriated for her stay, not saying a word to each other the entire time.

Not until they were upon Tsunade's doorstep did Hinata turn and fix her friend with a stern glare. "Why don't you ever learn, Sakura?"

Sakura just sighed and looked at her feet, already feeling uncomfortable in the Uchiha compound, even without the Hyuga's disapproving glare.

"This place should've knocked some sense into you. You always pick the wrong guy, Sakura! Does danger appeal to you or something? Do you like living on the edge of heartbreak?" Hinata scolded.

"Don't, Hinata. This isn't what you think," Sakura whispered; her eyes were glued to the floor.

Hinata growled at her friend to get her attention. "Don't what? I was joking when I teased you about liking Naruto at the hospital! I thought you had learned something since Sasuke, but apparently not," the Hyuga hissed.

"Shut up! You don't think I am trying to heal from that!? You think I am trying to get my heart ripped apart again?" Sakura screamed in anger and hurt.

Sakura's green eyes finally came up to meet Hinata's clear, white ones. Invisible lightning danced between the two girls' eyes. The pain was evident in Sakura's eyes, but Hinata was too annoyed with her friend to care.

"I really don't know anymore, Sakura," Hinata sighed. "Once we get Naruto moved; don't ask me for any more help."

Sakura nodded and wiped away the tears that were threatening to escape her green eyes. She knocked on the door to the house and stepped back to wait.

It didn't take long before Tsunade came to the door and waved the two young medics inside.

The house was clean and well taken care of, complete with polished hardwood floors; Sakura wondered who was still looking after the house even after it had been abandoned.

Despite the decoration and well-groomed appearance, the large house felt lonely and cold, as if the life had been taken out of it when the Uchiha compound had been abandoned.

Tsunade led the two girls down a hallway and slid open a door at the end, ushering the two into a well-lit room.

"Here he is. Best move him before it gets dark outside," The blonde Sannin droned, leaving the two girls alone with the sleeping young man.

Sakura felt her throat loosen a little and felt the day's stress melt away when she saw Naruto sleeping soundly on a bed in the middle of the room. She slowly crossed the room and went to the side of the bed, leaning over gently to look at the blonde man. "There you are.." she whispered softly, like a mother tucking in her child.

Hinata frowned when she heard what her friend had whispered to the blonde man, but shook her head and went to the end of the bed. "Let's get this over with."

Despite their earlier fight, Sakura turned and gave Hinata a small, content smile. "Yeah. Thank you for staying."

"Don't mention it. How you wanna do this?"

"Let's set out that stretcher in the corner and carry him on that," said Sakura, pointing at the white object propped against a corner wall. "He isn't hooked up to any machines, so we can leave everything else but his sword, clothing and the blankets."

Silently the two women set up the stretcher and gently set the sleeping blonde on it, folding his arms over his sword and clothing so they wouldn't have to carry them.

"Ready?" Hinata asked, taking a hold of one end of the stretcher.

Sakura took one last look around the room, nodded, and then gently took hold of the stretcher handles. "Ready," she said.

It was a slow process, but the two women managed to haul Naruto out of the compound and through the darkening village streets without any problems. Neither of the women spoke; Sakura spent the time watching Naruto sleep, while Hinata scanned the road ahead for water puddles, sewer grates, or any other thing that might trip them up.

After about half an hour, they were within sight of the hospital. Unexpectedly, Sakura stopped, forcing Hinata to do the same. "I'm not taking him back to the hospital, Hinata," she muttered, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"What?" Hinata scoffed, turning around and looking at her friend expectantly.

"I don't trust the nurses with his safety. Will you help me move him to my apartment?" she asked, pointing down a side street. "It is just 5 or 10 minutes in that direction."

To Sakura's surprise, Hinata began to laugh quietly.

"What?" the pink-haired girl asked.

"Nothing. Let's just get this over with," Hinata chuckled, shaking her head in disbelief.

Sakura frowned, but didn't say anything as they hoisted Naruto to her apartment.

She didn't say anything when they struggled to haul the blonde up the stairs.

She didn't say anything when she smashed her hand against the door while trying to get the stretcher into her living room.

She didn't even say anything when Hinata snorted when they took Naruto off the stretcher and placed him on Sakura's own bed.

So by the time they had situated the spiky-blonde and made their way to the door; Sakura had finally prepared what she was going to tell her friend.

Hinata opened the door and stepped outside onto the stairway, rubbing her sore muscles and groaning tiredly. "I won't let anyone know you are harboring a criminal," she sniped.

"Hinata. During my last mission, Naruto saved my life," Sakura said, her eyes sharp and focused.

"What?" the Hyuga asked, turning around to look at her.

"I was captured for 3 days and held in a yakuza compound with a severe head injury. Naruto stayed with me that entire time, taking care of me and keeping me company. We were almost friends," Sakura admitted, earning Hinata's full attention by now.

"We laughed and talked the entire time, despite us both being prisoners. At least I thought he was a prisoner, till I found out he was actually in charge of the yakuza that had captured me." The kunoichi said, pausing for a bit to relive the memory.

"I cursed him and punched him in the face, because I was hurt and felt betrayed. I insulted his honor and chalked him up to be a dirty, deceitful, thieving, murdering, yakuza thug that you probably think he is. I was worse though, because I called him those things even though he had saved my life and stayed in a dungeon with me for 3 days! He had fed me, watched over me, even gave me a damn massage!" she cried, eyes starting to glisten with unshed tears.

Hinata shuddered and gaped like a fish out of water. "Sakura, I, what I mean-"

Sakura shook her head and smiled as tears trickled down her cheeks. "So what happens? A week later I find him beaten and bloody in a dungeon. The exact same position I was in, but worse. What do you expect me to do Hinata? You said I always choose the wrong guy, but you are wrong; they choose me."

Now both girls were sobbing. Hinata crossed the distance between them and drew her friend into a tight embrace; they both cried into each other's shoulder, oblivious to the world.

After a few minutes both girls' shoulders were soaked and their eyes red and puffy.

"You understand why now, r-right?" Sakura sniffled, pulling back from Hinata and looking her in the eye.

"Y-yes, silly," Hinata giggled, smiling shakily. "I'm glad you finally explained all of it."

Sakura smiled and wiped her eyes with her palm. "I should've told you before we got into that fight, but my mind was stuck on, you-know-who," she said, jabbing a thumb back over her shoulder towards the bed where Naruto was sleeping.

"It's alright. I probably shouldn't have jumped to conclusions," Hinata said, wiping her eyes on her robe sleeve.

"I'm glad you are on my side again," Sakura admitted, exhaling and brushing some loose strands of pink hair from her face. "I can't do this all on my own."

Hinata sniffed and pointed back towards Sakura's bedroom. "I might be on your side, but I still don't like the idea of you keeping him here. It's not too late to take him to the hospital."

"No. I am going to stick to my guns and take care of him myself," said Sakura, shaking her head resolutely. _'I can't have another episode like today's; I wouldn't know what to do with myself,' _she thought to herself.

"And you are just going to forsake your duties to the hospital and your team?" asked Hinata, "How do you plan on disappearing to come check on Naruto?"

"I have the next week off," smiled Sakura, "And I plan on waking his lazy ass before that is up!"

Hinata giggled held open her arms for a hug, Sakura mirrored her actions, and both kunoichi embraced. Both were glad to clear the air, and both let out a relieved sigh as they held each other.

"You remember how much we used to do this when we were little girls?" asked Hinata. "We get into a fight and then end up crying, laughing, and hugging an hour later." She smiled and squeezed Sakura a little more.

Sakura started giggling again. "Yeah, those fights were over boys too," she said, pausing a moment and pulling back to look at Hinata, "Didn't _you_ like Shikamaru back then?"

"Something like that," admitted Hinata, releasing her friend and looking at the darkening sky. "I should get home."

Sakura nodded once. "Yeah, ok. I will probably see you tomorrow."

Hinata sighed. The sun was setting rapidly and she would probably be late for dinner. She gave Sakura one last look, ran down the steps, into the street, and took off towards the Hyuga compound.

* * *

Sakura closed the door to her apartment and paused before locking it securely. She had never gotten into the habit of locking her door; there simply wasn't enough crime in Konoha to warrant it, at least that's what most people thought.

She looked over her living room and sighed.

The apartment had one bedroom, one bathroom, a mid-size kitchen, and a living room. It was simple, and identical to most every apartment in the ninja village. Sakura had been convinced it was perfect for a single, on-the-go, kunoichi such as her; single being the key word.

In the 3 years she had lived in the apartment, she had decorated every nook and cranny, but had never bothered with buying a couch. She had a sofa chair, love seat, and coffee table, but no couch, and nowhere to sleep.

At first she tried the sofa chair, squirming and rolling inside her sleeping bag for a good hour before giving up. The love seat wasn't much better.

That left only one option.

Once the lights were out, the kunoichi went into her room and quietly changed out of her clothes, slipping into a large, baggy shirt and some sweatpants.

Using the skills of a skilled ninja, Sakura snuck over to the bed Naruto had taken over. _'I am a kunoichi! I've slept in the dirt for weeks, and now I can't even sleep in a sofa chair!?'_ she scolded herself, watching Naruto for any sign of movement.

Moving as slowly and cautiously as she possibly could, Sakura peeled back the covers and slipped in between them. Naruto didn't make a sound.

She felt the heat rise in her cheeks when she thought about what Hinata would say if she showed up in the morning to find Sakura in bed with Naruto. She promised herself to wake up before the sun, just in case.

Laying her head on her pillow; Sakura sighed contentedly._ 'Oh that is nice..' _she thought to herself.

Naruto shifted in his sleep a little bit, and Sakura could've sworn she could feel the heat coming off of him. It was almost like she could reach out with her mind and feel the warmth he was giving off from not a foot away. The bed moved a little more when the blonde shifted again.

Time passed and Sakura's eyelids began to grow heavy. She could hear the crickets chirping outside; their song resonated throughout the sleeping village, and it put her mind at ease.

'_Tomorrow is going to be so weird –'_she began to think, before Naruto rolled again, this time far enough to bump into her.

Sakura held her breath when she felt his body roll up against her back. She didn't dare move, and her body seized up, freezing her in place. Her cheeks flared with heat and she almost giggled. Naruto had been so still and quiet up until the moment that she had almost forgot she was sharing her bed with the blonde.

She was about to slip out of the bed and take up residence on the floor, when out of nowhere; the blonde man rolled in place again, his arm flopping down across Sakura's waist, rooting her in place and preventing her escape.

'_Fantastic,'_ she thought to herself, her cheeks burning. _'Just when I thought this couldn't get any more awkward.'_

She waited a while, hoping Naruto would roll over again, but he never did. It appeared that the man's subconscious mind had made itself comfortable and didn't need to adjust anymore.

Sakura sighed and resigned herself to a long night of awkwardness; although, she realized it didn't feel bad sharing Naruto's warmth. Despite the uncomfortable position she was in, Sakura had to admit she wouldn't have minded if the spiky-blonde had pulled her closer to himself.

It had been a long time since she had shared a bed with a man, and even though her mind told her it was wrong; her body, being the lonely, female body that it was, wanted to be held in a lover's embrace. The cold wasn't doing anything to help.

'_Get a hold of yourself, girl. This isn't the guy we want to be playing cuddle-bunny with,'_ she told herself, while subconsciously scooting backwards, closer to Naruto's warmth.

She was close enough to feel his breath on the back of her head.

Unexpectedly, Naruto shifted again, this time wrapping his arm around Sakura's middle and pulling her up against him, which made the pink-haired girl squeak in surprise.

Sakura felt her heart beating in her ears and her breath came in short, rapid breaths. This stopped completely when she felt Naruto bury his face in her hair.

"Mmm, hospital run out of beds, sweet cheeks?"

* * *

I practically put Naruto in a coma this entire chapter, but I needed him out of the way to introduce the other Main character, and some sub-plots. What do you guys think?


	9. Chapter 8

**Prodigal Son**

_Chapter 8_

Naruto smiled when the girl lying next to him shot up in bed and turned to look at him, blinking confusedly. It was dark and he was thankful she couldn't see the sly grin plastered across his face.

Whoever the woman was, it probably wasn't what she was expecting when Naruto had _spooned_ with her.

"How long have you been awake?!" the female squeaked, untangling her feet from the sheets. Naruto didn't answer as she slid off the bed and fumbled around in the dark.

"Not long. Though, I will say I was surprised to wake up in a warm bed with a woman, rather than _scarface_," Naruto joked, rolling onto his back and sighing into the darkness.

A light switch clicked and the bright ceiling light blinded him for a second, as his eyes adjusted to the drastic switch from pitch-black to bright-white.

"Yeah well, it wasn't like I had planned to be in that bed when you woke up," the girl hollered at him from what looked to be the living room. He frowned when he hadn't realized she'd slipped out.

Naruto took stock of his surroundings. He was in a small bedroom; the walls had been painted a soft earthy tone, which blended nicely with the white carpet and simple decoration. A nightstand with a digital clock sat on his left, large red numbers telling him it was _much_ too early to be awake.

He wondered what day it was, and just what had happened while he had been asleep. This definitely wasn't Ibiki's torture room.

Naruto remembered he had a debt to pay the scarred bastard.

The girl's voice shook him from his thoughts. "Feel free to go back to sleep; you won't be going anywhere for a while," she said, her voice strangely familiar to him.

"What do you mean? What's to stop me from just killing you and walking right out that door?" asked Naruto, his voice calm, yet deadly. He eyed the door and estimated he could be through it and onto the street outside within 30 seconds, tops.

He heard footsteps coming back towards the bedroom; he glanced around the room quickly, looking for his sword. "Well? Cat got your tongue?" he asked, trying to get up out of bed, but failing when his chest flared in pain.

The footsteps were close to the door now and Naruto hoped the girl wasn't a ninja; he wouldn't stand a chance against a ninja right now, female or not.

He watched the girl enter the room, and his jaw dropped against his will, making him look quite foolish.

Sakura stood before him, a hand on her hip as she leaned against the doorway. "Because this time? You are my prisoner," she said, smirking like a cat playing with a field-mouse.

His heart skipped a beat when he surveyed her. Her cuts and scrapes were healed for the most part, and she had been cleaned up; no more dirt or blood mired her beauty. He remembered the cocky grin and fiery attitude she had shown a bit of in the cell they shared, but it seemed more natural here in her own place. She seemed at ease, and it made her all the prettier. Her baggy t-shirt and sweat pants hid her figure, but Naruto vividly recalled the porcelain skin and knock-out figure hidden beneath the garments. Not that what she wore mattered, at the moment it could've been a burlap sack and he wouldnt've cared.

She noticed him staring and she giggled. "Your going to start drooling soon." she offered, point at his gaping maw.

Naruto blinked and shut his mouth, trying to regain his composure. He was completely unprepared to see the pink-haired girl. "I, uh, Sakura? How?" he sputtered, frowning at her in confusion.

"This is where I live. Born and raised in Konoha," said the girl. "I'm a medic-nin."

Naruto stared at her for a moment then shook his head. "No, uh, I meant how did you get out? How did you escape the cell and get _here_?" he asked.

Sakura smiled and sat on the edge of the bed, folding one leg beneath her. "Well, if you must know; a piece of the wall caved in and nearly crushed me. Thankfully it missed and I used the hole to escape," she explained, using her hands to imitate a wall falling. It was cute.

"I should've let you out, that was my bad," Naruto muttered embarrassedly, scratching his head.

Sakura shook her head and looked him in the eye intently, setting him a little on edge. The girl's gorgeous green eyes didn't hold anger, like they had when the two had last seen each other; they held something more akin to pity. Naruto didn't like it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

"I know I upset you when I reacted like I did after finding out who you were. I was hasty and judged you before I even knew you. Can you can forgive me?" she whispered, still staring at him. Time seemed to stand still.

Delighted at their reunion, or not; Naruto wasn't about to have her feel sorry for him. It was true he had been hurt, but not in a million years would he let anyone know.

Naruto stammered for words, his tongue feeling foreign to him. "What? You heh heh, you think I care about that prison stint? You got me wrong, sister."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You are so full of shit, Naruto," she said. "I know you're lying."

"I like your apartment."

"Stop changing the subject; I am _trying_ to apologize!"

Naruto growled and pointed at himself. "I want my clothes. Where is my sword? I want that too." He was all too aware that he was wearing only a pair of boxers and plain white shirt, and he felt exposed without the weight of his sword against his back.

"You can have your clothes once they are out of the washer, and as to your sword? You can't have it," said Sakura. She watched him carefully, as if to study how he would react. Naruto didn't make her wait long.

"Screw you, cupcake. I'm bustin' out of this joint and _all_ ofmy belongings are coming with me," he hissed, forcing himself out of the bed and up onto his feet, even as his chest burst into pain.

Naruto stumbled a bit, but caught himself against a wall and pushed himself along the wall towards the bedroom door. He imagined those torture plates might have something to do with the reason his chest felt as it were on fire, and he cursed Ibiki under his breath. _'I will kill that fucker, I swear,'_ he promised himself.

Sakura got up from the bed as well, and followed him slowly. He could tell she was hanging back far enough to avoid an attack, but also staying close enough to catch him should he fall. It made him feel weak and stupid, and he glared down at his unstable legs accusingly.

"Your nerves were damaged from the electric chakra from those plates; between the pain medication and the nerve damage, I can't imagine how hard it must be for you to move," Sakura observed. Apparently she too had noticed just how foreign Naruto's legs felt to him.

"Spare your pity," Naruto spat back angrily, pulling himself through the door, only to fall to the floor clumsily. Sakura hurried to his side and tried to pick him up, but Naruto swatted her hands away.

"I said spare the pity; I don't need help."

Sakura retreated a few steps and Naruto could hear her teeth grind in frustration. "You don't want my pity, so I won't give it," she spat angrily, "but you aren't leaving this apartment till I say so; whether you like it or not, you are my prisoner."

"Ha! Why don't you just pretend that I care while I drag myself out the front door," Naruto scoffed, pulling himself along the floor on his belly.

"You may not care that you are my prisoner, but I do," Sakura whispered, barely loud enough for the blonde to hear.

Naruto stopped and frowned, before rolling onto his back and looking over at the pink-haired girl. She frowned intently at him and he noticed her lip quivering a little bit.

"What?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

Sakura looked away from his gaze and shook her head. "You have no idea what I have done for you this week, Naruto."

"Oh?"

"For starters, I saved your life - twice. Then when someone kidnapped you from the hospital, I spent all day searching for you," Sakura muttered, looking him in the eyes. "When I finally did find you, I argued with arguably one of the top 3 most powerful ninja in the world to get you back. After that, I fought with my best friend over you and brought you into _my_ home, only to deposit you safely in _my _own bed..."

Naruto began to say something, but Sakura shot him a look that said 'Interrupt me and I'll kill you'.

"..And you tell me to save my pity, like _I_ am the pathetic one," Sakura finished, her tone cold and her expression grim. She wasn't playing around anymore.

Naruto scowled and looked at the floor. Why had she done those things for him? Why did she even care to help him at all?

He didn't have much time to think about it, before Sakura crossed the room and crouched beside him. "Exactly," she whispered, her face hovering a few inches from his. "You don't have to say anything, because I know that deep down – you_ do_ want someone to care."

Naruto snorted and lay back against the floor, his gaze on the ceiling. "You've got the wrong guy. I don't give a flying rat's ass about anything you've said tonight. I'm just going to escape when you fall asleep."

There was a pause and Naruto hoped the girl would drop the conversation and leave. He should've known better.

Sakura sat on the floor beside him. "So the time we spent with each other in that cell; what was all that about? Why did you stay with me?"

Naruto paused. The days he had spent in that cell had meant much too him, more than he would ever let the girl know.

"Because I wanted to get a roll in the hay before the brothel got you," Naruto lied, a lump forming in his throat.

Sakura chuckled dryly, but Naruto could tell he had struck a blow. "Really? Cos' I could've swore it was because you hadn't been around a _good_ woman in a long time. At least that's the feeling I got from your big yakuza friend - Yobu was it?"

Naruto almost choked on his tongue. The _vixen_ had been _awake_ when Yobu had come and mentioned his lack of female companionship!

"Oh ho ho! It's true?" Sakura sniped, punching his arm as if it was all a big joke. "What happened, Naruto? The town's whores not want to be friends with the man who put them there?"

Naruto didn't say anything. The truth hurt too much. No one had wanted to get close to him after the gang war, not that he blamed them though; very few respectable women wanted anything to do with an alcoholic swordsman that came home covered in blood every night. To hear his loneliness mocked in front of his face was almost too much though, and Naruto could feel his heart weep.

* * *

Sakura regretted her harsh words almost as soon as they had left her mouth. She hadn't intended to call Naruto's weakness out, but her pride had been hurt and her tongue had lashed out in defiance.

Her regret was doubled when Naruto went deathly quiet, his blue eyes staring at the ceiling as if in a trance.

The more the silence built up the more Sakura felt like apologizing, especially since her former lover, Sasuke, had gone through practically the same thing as the blonde man lying before her.

The raven-haired Uchiha hadn't had anyone that cared for him either. No one _loved_ him.

Sure, the village had doted on him like a farmer would a prize cow, but it couldn't fill the gap in his heart. Sakura herself had once thought that she had filled the gap for him, giving him enough love to repair the damage there; she had been wrong.

Her thoughts were broken however, when Naruto sighed loudly. "My wife and unborn child were murdered exactly one year and three months ago," the blonde finally whispered.

She could see the pain creeping into his eyes, and it made her curse herself for her hasty words.

"Before her there was no one, and after her passing there has been no one else," continued Naruto. "I stayed with you in that cell, because you didn't know who I was or what I had done."

Sakura felt her heart break. She had seen the symptoms when she had first laid eyes on Naruto, but she hadn't expected it to be as bad, if not worse, than Sasuke's own issues.

"Oh, Naruto, I didn't mean to.." she began to say, but trailed off when the blonde scowled at her.

"Didn't mean to what? Rub it in my face?" accused Naruto. "I'm only telling you so you will drop it. I don't need to hear how _sorry_ you are."

Sakura shut her mouth and nodded obediently; she wasn't about to insult the man by babying him. If he was anything like Sasuke had been; Naruto wouldn't want to hear anything from her after baring his soul. Men didn't want to be comforted when they were uncomfortable.

Naruto sent her a frown when she didn't reply. For her to just sit quietly and listen must've seemed strange to him, but she knew it was for the best.

"What? No witty comeback?" asked Naruto. She shook her head at him.

There was a pause as he looked at her curiously. She knew how to deal with bad boys, and what they needed was a quiet listener that didn't feel too sorry for them, but was still there when they finished their story. They would show their appreciation in the end too; more emotion and thankfulness than anyone she could think of.

Sasuke had held onto her for hours after he poured out his soul to her, and Sakura wondered if Naruto would do the same.

Time seemed to laugh at her as the two just looked at each other. Sakura wondered exactly was going through the blonde's head as he studied her face intently. He would look into her eyes, frown, look at her lips, frown, look around the room, and then look into her eyes again. The process was repeated many times before Naruto sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Well good! Now help me get off the floor and back into bed; my body isn't doing what I tell it to," the blonde ordered grumpily.

Sakura was a little shocked. She hadn't expected a well of emotion to spring from the blonde, but Naruto had kept his revelation shorter and simpler than she had imagined it would be. Sasuke had talked for a solid half hour about all the things he felt were missing in his life; Naruto had taken less than 5 minutes.

"Huh?" she mumbled dumbly. "Is that it?"

"Is what it?" asked Naruto, before something flashed in his eyes and his mouth formed a perfect 'oh'. "You were expecting me to give you some sappy story about my pathetic life, weren't you?"

Sakura could only stare at the blonde man.

"Sakura, I have long since come to terms with my lack of serious relationship with a woman, well - with _anyone_ for that matter. It hurts to think about it, but I'm not about to cry and ask you to hold my hand," said Naruto. "Just don't bring it up again and we won't have a problem."

"I don't understand!" she cried.

Naruto gave her an annoyed look. "There isn't anything to understand. Now, are you going to help me to bed or what?"

Sakura sighed, but decided not to press on the subject. "Yes, I just thought you were in the middle of an escape. Why do you want my help now?" she asked, standing up and bending over to pull him to his feet. She was determined to understand the blonde, but now obviously wasn't the time.

Sakura carefully slipped her arms under his and hoisted him up. She felt a little heat enter her cheeks when her slender arms slid over the smooth muscle under his shirt. Apparently, yakuza life benefits included a guaranteed six-pack and hard body.

"Because this is all part of my plan," Naruto chuckled, the pain gone from his voice. "I will seduce the guard, sleep with her, then knock her out and steal the key when she least expects it."

Sakura marveled at the blonde's mood swings, and could only gape at him; a smile threatening to form on her lips. As if reading her thoughts, Naruto smirked and threw an arm around her slender shoulders. "Life is too short to argue with pretty women," he muttered, as if the fight hadn't happened at all.

She grunted at the extra weight and put an arm around his waist to steady him as they shuffled toward her bedroom. "Sorry, but you are sleeping on your own from now on," she scoffed. "I don't feel like getting seduced tonight."

"And where will you sleep? You obviously couldn't get comfortable anywhere else, otherwise you wouldn't have been in the bed when I woke up," Naruto observed, letting her guide him over to the bed.

Sakura didn't reply as she shuffled over to her bed and gently began lowering Naruto onto the mattress. She immediately regretted it however, as a wild gleam entered his ocean colored eyes. With a feral growl, Naruto fell backwards onto the bed, pulling Sakura down with him. She shrieked in surprise and fell fully on top of him.

"Mmm, my plan is working so far," he muttered from below her. "You trying to have your way with me, guard lady?"

To her horror, Sakura realized she was straddling Naruto, and her face lit up when he squirmed between her thighs.

Without thinking, she reared back violently, tumbling off the blonde's lap and the bed entirely. She crashed to the floor in heap, while Naruto roared in laughter.

"You just don't turn off!" Sakura bellowed, getting to her feet and stomping out of the room. Her face was much too red for her to stay around and banter with the blonde man.

"What? Haha! I didn't make you _mount_ me!" Naruto called out to her, his voice full of mock surprise.

Sakura shook her head, a frown and a small smile competing for dominance on her features. Her body didn't know whether to be disgusted or excited. _'I just don't get him! One minute he is all forlorn and making me want to cry; the next minute he is trying to seduce me!'_ she debated with herself.

Making her way around the house, Sakura turned off all the lights to her apartment and planted herself on the love seat for the second time that night; she crossed her legs subconsciously.

She was embarrassed to admit that her body had responded to Naruto's gyrations, and a heat was building in her nether regions that she was NOT going to tend to.

* * *

Naruto groaned as a shaft of light burst through the bedroom window and struck him full in the face. Morning had a way of sneaking up on unsuspecting blondes.

Frowning in frustration, Naruto rolled over and planted his head in one of Sakura's goose down pillows, burying his face. The thin fabric didn't help however, and the light showed through the white pillow as if to taunt him.

Abandoning all hope of staying asleep, the blonde rolled over and sighed. Last night's debacle had been more than tiring, and he hoped it wouldn't happen again. He hated doting over his past; it did nothing for his mood.

Sakura sauntered into the room and leaned against the door. "I see you are finally awake." she observed.

Naruto turned and glowered at her. "Why don't you own any blinds?"

"So I know when it is time to get up," said the medic-nin, "Some of us don't like to sleep in caves."

Naruto growled in reply and ripped the bedding off of him as he slid his legs over the edge of the bed. Sakura watched him silently and fiddled with the coffee cup in her hand. She hadn't changed out of her night clothes either, and Naruto could see dark circles under her eyes.

"You get any sleep?" he asked, getting to his feet wobbly.

"Not really," Sakura replied. "A few hours I suppose."

Naruto frowned at her and beckoned her too him with his hand. "Come help me into the bathroom; I need a shower."

"No funny business?" she asked, looking at him over her cup.

He chuckled a little at that and shook his head. "No funny business."

She smiled in return and handed him her coffee cup, throwing his arm around her shoulders and helping him hobble into the bathroom.

"Thank you," he replied, taking a deep swig of the black caffeine drink and handing her back the cup.

"Heeyyy, you drank half of it!" Sakura whined, leaning him against the sink and frowning into the now half-empty mug.

Naruto shrugged and tore off his shirt, tossing it in her face. "Tough luck, short-round. Care to help me undress?"

He smirked as Sakura untangled herself from the garment. "You're such a pig!" she squealed, tossing the shirt out onto the bedroom floor.

She paused when she saw him shirtless and stared for a few seconds, the color rising in her cheeks. Naruto laughed, and flexed. "Are you checking me out?"

The girl seemed to come back to reality and frowned up at him before leaving the bathroom. "You're a pig, annnd full of yourself!" she spat vehemently.

Naruto chuckled quietly and shut the door behind her, then quickly stripped down and jumped in the shower. He twisted the shower knob but received only a gurgle from the shower head. Impatient as he was, he decided to twist both knobs rapidly.

Cold water blasted him and he shrieked like a frightened girl. "Ahhhhh! Oh god! Cold!"

He could hear Sakura laugh through the thin walls and he glowered embarrassedly. The water eventually warmed and he took a quick shower.

Once he was done, Naruto dried himself off and dressed in his shirt and boxers. The scant garments did little to protect him from the unexpected cold of morning in Sakura's apartment, so he snatched the blanket from the bed and wrapped it around himself.

"I want my clothes!" he bellowed as he stumbled through the bedroom door, only to find the living room empty.

Naruto looked around curiously, shuffling to the kitchen, then back to the bedroom, then back again to the living room before plopping down on the love seat. _'Where'd she get off to?' _he wondered.

He sighed loudly and snatched the TV remote off of the coffee table and turned on the TV, resigning himself to a long and boring day under house arrest.

* * *

Sakura strolled happily through Konoha's market district. The hustle and bustle of merchants hawking their wares and consumers haggling was exciting. Commerce was the life-blood of any village and Konoha's was booming.

Merchants from all over came to the village to trade: Caravans from Wind country, silk traders from Grass country, and weapon smiths from Earth country; every country had a stall in Konoha's massive trade market.

Sakura smiled politely at the merchants who invited her to see their wares, but didn't stop to browse; she had gotten her groceries and was anxious to check on her_ prisoner_.

No sooner than she had exited the throng of shoppers, she ran straight into Shikamaru. He was decked out in his full ANBU gear, but pulled his mask up and waved at her.

"Hi Sakura, how's it going?" the ANBU captain greeted politely.

Sakura smiled and brushed a strand of pink hair out of her face. "Pretty good, Shikamaru, something I can help you with?"

"No, not really. Just wanted to drop in and say hello is all."

"Uh huh..well I kind of have somewhere to be right now.."

Sakura smiled politely and made as if to walk away, but Shikamaru caught her by the arm gently. "Oh! I almost forgot! Umm, Ino, Chouji, and the rest of the gang are going to be getting together tonight to celebrate TenTen's promotion. What time you gonna show up?" he asked.

"I had completely forgotten all about that!" Sakura shrieked embarrassedly. She recalled hearing about her weapon-slinging friend's promotion to Jounin, but had forgotten all about the party.

Shikamaru smirked and pointed at her lazily. "You _are_ coming though, right?"

Sakura swallowed. What would she do with Naruto? Could she really trust him to stay put?

She didn't know what he was in the village for in the first place, but apparently it was important enough for him to want to escape her custody without a pair of working legs. _'I'll have to make a point to ask him,'_ she thought to herself.

"Well? You have something else already planned?" Shikamaru questioned, breaking her from her reverie.

Sakura blinked and tried to think of an excuse. "Uh, no, but I have umm.. a patient that needs constant attention," she lied lamely, "and he can't be left alone."

"Not a problem; have one of the other nurses watch him for a couple hours," Shikamaru advised calmly. "You have been so busy lately that you could use a fun night with everyone."

"Oh, Shikamaru, I don't know.."

"C'mon, everyone expects you to be there."

Sakura frowned and she rolled her eyes in defeat. "Fine, I will come."

She watched his face light up and it made her groan inwardly. She knew it was very possible she had just lied, and would instead be spending the night watching over Naruto.

"Alright, cool, see you there!" the pineapple-haired man chortled, before leaping to the nearest roof and taking off towards the inner-city.

Sakura waved weakly at Shikamaru's retreating back, before hoisting her grocery bag and hurrying home.

It took her a second to fumble with her keys, before finding the right one and unlocking the door. Shoving the door open and entering the room, she caught sight of Naruto shuffling out of the bedroom; he was wrapped in her comforter. It made him look like a fuzzy headed, blonde penguin and she giggled at him.

"Oh ho! Did I wake you, Mr. Snuffles?" she teased, crossing the room to her kitchen and dumping the groceries on the counter.

"Mr. Snuffles? What are you talking about?" Naruto growled, shuffling into the kitchen behind her. She smiled when he began peeking over her shoulder at the groceries she was starting to put away.

"Nothing. You just look cute wearing that comforter around."

"Yea well, I wouldn't be wearing it if you would just give me back my damn clothes."

Sakura giggled again and turned to roll her eyes at him. "I told you they were in the washer. So assuming I didn't steal or burn them; where would they be?"

She watched as the light turned on in his mind and his eyebrows rose. "Oh.." the blonde muttered, before shuffling away to claim his clothes.

She put away the rest of the groceries, and marveled at Naruto. For a major crime figure and mass murderer; she had to admit he could be undeniably cute at times.

Naruto entered the room later, fully decked out in his yakuza gear, shin guards and all. "That is better. Now where is my sword?" he asked, looking at her sternly.

"I don't know," she muttered, plopping down on her love seat with a sigh of relief.

She watched him cross the room and sit on recliner across from her. His gaze was steely, and there was 'no more games' written all over his face. "Sakura, where is my katana?"

"Naruto, you know I can't give it to you. Why are you in such a hurry to have it anyways?" she asked, sitting up and frowning at him. She didn't like how serious he was; it put her on edge.

"I didn't come here to take a vacation and chill in your apartment," explained Naruto. "I have someone to find, and the longer I stay cooped up here, the farther away he gets."

Sakura's attention was piqued now. "Who are you looking for? Someone in the village?"

Naruto shook his head and wrung his hands impatiently. "It isn't any concern of yours. Just let me have my sword, let me leave the apartment, and give me an hour before you tell anyone I escaped."

Sakura sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't do that. Firstly because, you are a prisoner within this village and I would get in serious shit if you escaped, especially when I reassured the Hokage that I could handle you."

"Secondly, I can't release you, because you aren't healed yet, and as a medic-nin I will not allow you to run out and get yourself hurt again before you've healed properly."

Sakura took a deep breath and hushed Naruto before he could interrupt her. "And thirdly, I can't let you go because I have a party to go to in about an hour, and can't afford to be knocked out and miss it."

She smiled uncomfortably when Naruto looked at her incredulously. Disbelief was painted all across his face and she buckled down to ride out the storm.

"What! You are going out partying tonight, while I am just supposed to do what? Sit here like a good prisoner and wait for you to come back?!" he roared, his earlier surprise replaced with rage.

"Naruto, please –"

"With all due respect, Sakura? Fuck you. I don't even know why I am still here!" he exclaimed, waving his arms around the room. "I could've busted out of this joint five times by now!"

Sakura grimaced as the furious blonde shot up out of his chair and made his way towards the door.

"Stop! Please, Naruto!" she begged, reaching for her kunai pouch subconsciously. She'd known what she had said would infuriate him, but she hoped Naruto would at least let her explain.

Naruto stopped at the door and turned to scowl at her, his hand on the door handle. "Or what? You'll kill me? Apprehend me?"

Sakura shook her head and sighed. "No, I'll make a deal with you."

She thanked her stars when Naruto sighed and looked at her expectantly, turning away from the door for the moment.

"If you tried to break into a ninja village to find information on this person you are hunting, then it obviously means a lot to you, correct?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well what would you say if I could get you your sword, some information, and a clean slate with the most powerful shinobi village in the land?" she whispered. She had no idea where she was going with this, but it held Naruto's attention and that was all she wanted at the moment.

The blonde sent her an apprehensive glare, but let go of the door knob and retook his seat across from her. "What is in it for you?" he asked.

Sakura balked. She hadn't really thought of what she would receive in return from the "deal". All she had wanted was for Naruto to stay. She hadn't really expected to receive something from him.

A number of things did cross her mind though, and she was curious just what she could get out of crime lord. She didn't have very long to think however, as she could see Naruto was getting impatient and skeptical.

So, fate being what it was, and Sakura being the woman she was, and pressure being the bitch it was; Sakura blurted the first thing that came to her mind.

"A date."

* * *


	10. Announcement

Hey everybody! Just wanted to let my readers know that I have started a new project!

**Master and Weapon!**

It is a story I am really excited about and hope you will all take a peek at it.

New pairings, new story, new characters, new plot twists and now with MORE comedy!

I won't be writing on Prodigal Son till I get rid of this 'new story craziness phase'. Sowwy everyone..


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